Lake Kiwu and its Islands 105 



The subordinate of Mihigo had in the meantime paid us a 

 visit, accompanied by two followers. He was of medium stature, 

 slender, and very scantily clothed, yet he created an impression 

 of intelligence and complaisance. But of the dignity which 

 compelled respect, and which is met with in the person of the 

 chief of Ruanda, he had none. When I told him of my hunt- 

 ing troubles, he promised that the Batwa, who dwelt somewhere 

 in the interior of the island, should be fetched. They were the 

 only folk who understood how to capture the cunning and timid 

 monkeys. The following day they appeared, amid the yells of 

 our people, who were no less curious than we ourselves to meet 

 these strange guests. 



We had come upon their traces for the first time in the 

 Rugege forest. Whilst stalking before sunrise one morning I 

 stumbled across a small encampment of them, but they had per- 

 ceived me long before I had caught sight of them, and had fled 

 into the forest like wild animals. That gave an opportunity to my 

 Mtussi guide to relate to me all kinds of fables concerning them 

 and their method of existence, so that since then they appeared 

 to be shrouded in mystery, which raised them to a position of 

 fear and dread amongst our followers. Their appearance con- 

 sequently disillusioned us. Personally I had imagined them to 

 be smaller than I actually found them. Their height ranged 

 from between 140 to 160 centimetres, but they were always 

 conspicuous among the other Kwidschwi-folk for their smallness 

 and daintiness. The colour of their bodies is exactly the same 

 dark-brown tone as that of the islanders. Their faces are uglier, 

 however ; their noses flatter, and their skulls apparently rounder. 

 Whether they should be looked upon as dwarfs or as small 

 negroes is a question of no import. It is certain that they form 

 a separate foreign element among the inhabitants of Kwidschwi, 

 and probably wandered from the west, from the Congo, and 

 mixed very little with the aboriginals. The bodies of the Batwa 

 are well built and muscular, their only wearing apparel con- 

 sisting of an apron of cowhide. But every one of them, like 



the Wanjaruanda, carries a tobacco pouch round the arm or 

 o 



