124 



PIGMIES. 



discovered the ' Obongo/ a race not only 

 dwarfish, but living close to a tribe of unusually 

 tall and powerful negroes : curious to say, 

 they occupy about the same parallel of latitude 

 as do the traditional Wabilikimo. 



In the evening we were honoured with a 

 Ngoma Khu, or full orchestra, for which a dollar 

 was but a paltry bakhshish, were noise worth coin . 

 The spectators appeared by no means a comely 

 race, but they were healthier and in far better 

 condition than the churls of Wasin. I saw, 

 however, amongst them many cases of leprous 

 white spots on the palms and soles. We took 

 leave at night, provided by the Diwans with a 

 bullock and half-a-dozen goats, with fruit, and 

 with milk. These headmen, who prefer to be 

 entitled Sultan, are in the proportion of half-a- 

 dozen per village, each one omnipotent within 

 his own walls. In their presence the many- 

 headed may not sit on chairs, carpets, or fine 

 mats; use umbrellas, wear turbans, nor walk 

 in the pattens called Kabkab : moreover, on 

 solemn occasions such as this none but the 

 Diwan may pace and whirl through the Pyrrhic 

 dance. Said bin Salim described them as a 

 kind of folk that want to eat — in fact, des escrocs : 

 they accompanied us, however, gratis, on our 



