Chapter V 



FOREST FOLK 



In the fastness of a little-known forest in Equatorial 

 Africa dwell a shy and elusive folk; for ever on the alert, 

 they disappear into the heart of the forest should they 

 catch sight of a stranger. I had heard of them first from 

 the Arabs and had often wondered if it would be my 

 good fortune to make friends with them. But although 

 I marched for hundreds of miles conscious that I was 

 being secretly watched by these strange forest dwellers, 

 many weeks passed before I was fortunate enough to 

 come into contact with members of the tribe. 



My work for the Forestry Department frequently took 

 me far off the beaten track and often for a month or two 

 at a time I had been entirely cut off from other white 

 men. Although I did not realize it at the time such ex- 

 periences were not without their advantages. The worst 

 thing I encountered in these forests were a particularly 

 vicious breed of mosquitoes and greedy blood -sucking 

 Tsetse flies, but my discovery of the forest dwellers proved 

 to be adequate compensation for the discomfort caused 

 by these pests. 



One day I was walking in the dense bush when my at- 

 tention was arrested by a strange sound. I at once stopped 



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