AMONG THE PYGMIES 37 



heads, and some had, instead of sharp, rounded tips ; 

 others had two long barbs, one on either side, both at 

 least half an inch in length. The poisoned arrows 

 are no doubt used when at war, while the others are 

 reserved for the hunt. All had, instead of a feather, 

 a leaf fixed at the end of the shaft. The quivers in 

 which they were kept were made some of antelope 

 hide and others of monkey skin. 



In addition to the arrows, I procured from the 

 Pygmies a horn of ivory used in the chase, a whistle 

 made of wood for the same purpose, and two thro wing - 

 spears. All these articles, made by the Pygmies them- 

 selves, show a certain amount of skill and intelligence. 

 The horn, for instance, is nicely carved out of the 

 solid tusk of an elephant, and the spears are slightly 

 ornamented on the blades. 



I asked these little people tcx take me to one of 

 their encampments, but they said they could not do 

 so, that they never liked strangers to see where they 

 lived. However, quite by chance one day while out 

 hunting in the forest with one of my boys, I came 

 upon one of their settlements. It was in a very dense 

 part of the jungle, and I could see at once that it could 

 belong to no other tribe of people under the sun 

 than the Pygmies. There were very tiny little huts 

 or shelters, varying from three to four feet in height, 

 thatched with giant leaves from trees of the forest ; 

 a few broken clay pots, evidently used for cooking 

 purposes ; and scattered about the place in all direc- 

 tions were the husks of a tree-bean and the stones 

 from the forest fruits. Apart from these few signs 

 of human habitation, there was nothing to denote that 

 here the Pygmies lived. I moved away from this 





