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 
