196 THE SEMLIKI A^ ALLEY 



^ Mbeni is thought to be a fairly healthy station, though its altitude 



above sea level is not more than 3,500 feet. Two miles to the west of 

 it the great Congo Forest liegins. It was at Mbeni, as will be related in 

 Chapter XII., that we first got on the track of the okapi. Consequently I 

 became very eager to enter the Congo Poorest and commence the search 

 for this animal. I desired also to reinstate a number of Congo Pygmies 

 in their homes, and see what these homes were like. A few months 

 before my arrival an enterprising German had come to Fort Mbeni from 

 Uganda, and had asked permission to recruit a number of Dwarfs to be 

 shown bv him at the Paris Exhibition. The Belgian officer in charge of 

 .Ml)eni did not think this proposal Avould be favourably received by the 

 Governor of the Province, because it was believed that a considerable 

 mortality would take ])lace amongst these little people if they were 

 removed from tlieir native forests. He tlierefore informed the German 

 that it would probal)ly be impossible to grant his request, though the 

 matter would be referred to the Governor for decision. The German 

 agent did not press the matter in conversation, but asked for guides to take 

 him to the Dwarf settlements in the forest at the back of Fort Mbeni 

 so that he might study the habits and customs of these peo])le. Guides 

 were given to him, together with a few native soldiers to form his escort. 



In this way he reached the village of a ]Mukonjo chief called 

 Luptinzula, who was a great friend of the Dwarfs and able to get in 

 contact with them. The German entered into friendly relations with the 

 Dwarfs, giving them beads and cloth and tobacco, and after a day or two 

 he proposed that large numbers of them should assemble at an ^Nlbuba 

 village, some distance to the north, in the forest. On some pretext he 

 sent his guides and escort back to Mbeni, saying that he would return 

 unaccompanied through the forest to British territory. Having assembled 

 the Dwarfs in large numbers, he suddenly surrounded them with his 

 Swahili porters and askaris and informed them that they were his. 

 prisoners and would have to proceed with him to Uganda. ]Many of the 

 Pygmies succeeded in running away, but nineteen were cai)tured. With 

 these he started (I must say with considerable pluck) to thread his way 

 through the appallingly dense forest down to the Semliki Kiver, and 

 across that river to the District of Toro. He lost many of his Dwarfs on 

 the way, but eventually arrived in Uganda with nine, ^leantime, the 

 Belgian authorities, hearing of his unlawful action, had written to us at 

 Entebbe. We therefore caused tlie German in question to be arrested, 

 and took from him the Dwarfs, whom I afterwards escorted to the Congo 

 Free State to be repatriated. 



Accompanied by Mr. Karl Eriksson, of the Congo Free State service, 

 and a small escort of Manvema soldiers, I started with my caravan for 



