FRENCH CAMEROONS 7 
the driver, he thrust sufficient money to pay six people into the 
hands of those nearest to him and then let in the clutch with a 
jerk. As we moved off a free fight was under way, but the driver 
assured me that this was the normal way of dealing with baggage 
in Duala! 
Through the kindness of the manager of the United Africa 
Company, I was able to occupy a vacant house at Eseka on the 
very edge of the forest. Eseka is a small but important town about 
one hundred miles from Duala on the way to Yaounde, the 
capital. It is the principal center for the palm-oil and cocoa trade. 
Before settling in at Eseka, I decided to visit Yaounde for a 
few days to see what the capital was like, and on my way there I 
caught my first glimpse of Pygmies—a few who had come 
through from South Cameroons. Yaounde did not impress me 
very much, being a straggling place with few decent buildings, 
and as there was no street lighting the vacant areas between the 
houses were gloomy and uninviting at night. Under these condi- 
tions, black ladies issued forth, especially in the vicinity of the 
hotel, each carrying a hurricane lamp. This served the double 
purpose of badge of office and beacon. Anyone seeking nocturnal 
recreation had only to make for the nearest lamp, for the bearers 
thereof all belonged to the same profession. This method of at- 
tracting would-be clients was certainly something new to me. 
Having returned to the more healthy atmosphere of Eseka, I 
quickly organized things to start my collection. The first accom- 
plishment was the finding of a houseboy and a cook. This was 
my introduction to pidgin English. With natives who knew 
French I found it much easier to converse in that language, but 
my two servants, being Gold Coast boys, could speak nothing but 
pidgin, so I was forced to murder my own language. Such expres- 
sions as “De massa ’e done come” = the white man has arrived; 
“De butter ’e done live” = there is no more butter; and “I’m no fit 
for catch ’em” = he is unable to do or get it, are rather bewilder- 
ing when spoken rapidly with an unfamiliar intonation. 
I spent the first week walking miles studying bird-life, and 
noting the haunts of the particular species I required. 
There were two species of Black-capped Waxbills which were 
fairly numerous in the clearings around native huts, and I was 
