EXPLORATION OF THE KIBALI 327 



When we come to see how perfected the iron-work of the 

 Mangbettus has become, it is easy to beheve that the ancestors 

 of this race were the makers of these poHshed stones which 

 in their shaping show extreme skill, worthy of a people who 

 at the present day can make the sickle-shaped Mangbettu 

 knife, ornamented with perforations and rehefs, which is 

 the most perfect implement that has yet been produced by 

 the Congo natives ; or their beautiful arrow-points which 

 are wrought with rare dehcacy. On the other hand, the 

 stones found in the lower Congo, which is inhabited by less 

 inteUigent tribes, are chipped and show little skill in their 

 making. The dwarfs, or Tiki -Tiki, scattered along the 

 boundaries of the Upper Ituri are said by the natives to use 

 stone knives. They lead a wandering hfe, and their only 

 industry is hunting, the spoil from which they exchange with 

 the Mangbettus or Momvus for cultivated fruits, weapons or 

 the cloth woven out of bark. They do not build villages 

 but Hve in hollow trees or under the shelter of rocks ; they 

 are therefore ignorant of the industries which necessitate a 

 permanent abode, such as iron-working, so in all probabiUty 

 their stone weapons came originally from one or m.ore of the 

 tribes of the Mangbettu race. 



The use to which these stones were put is open to con- 

 jecture. Their small size and weight preclude the theory 

 that they were used as axes for hard substances, and it is 

 much more probable that they were made for pounding 

 up food such as manioc, the stone being held in the clenched 

 hand. Their edges in many cases are worn and chipped, 

 which points to this kind of usage. Another equally probable 

 theory is that they were used for fighting, for they are 



