io6 
In the Heart of Africa 
shoulder plaited out of grass-stalks. The only weapons we 
observed were spears, having fairly long lancet-like blades. I 
have little doubt, however, that they also possess bows and 
arrows, only that they are not in the habit of always carrying 
them. The demeanour of these pygmies was shy and hesitating, 
and we were only able to come to any understanding with them 
through Tamate’s mediation. After we had gained their con¬ 
fidence, by making them some small presents, they declared 
themselves ready to hunt monkeys for us, but could not be 
induced to go on the hunt with me, because, as Tamate said, 
they were afraid of the crack of my gun. Then for four days 
I neither saw nor heard anything of them. 
Meanwhile we undertook long excursions in the forest, and 
followed a path which was good going at first, but which, as 
we penetrated deeper, became narrower and narrower, and finally 
lost itself entirely in the bush. By far the most attractive 
phenomena in the whole green shrubbery presented by the African 
virgin forest are the tree-ferns which are found chiefly in clumps 
close to small watercourses. They are perhaps the most beautiful 
children in Africa’s flora; with their slender stems, ten metres 
and more in height, and beautiful crowns, they are more like 
palms than ferns, and no layman would recognise in them a 
relation of our common bracken fern. The luxuriance of the 
undergrowth corresponded with the richness in species and variety 
of the lower animal world. When I sent my guides and “ boys ” 
along to collect wadudu (insects—in a broader sense, small 
animals) my time was fully occupied in separating the valuable 
from the useless specimens from the abundant supply they 
brought. Earthworms of more than forty centimetres in length, 
and fully as thick as one’s thumb (Benhamia spec.) were ex¬ 
tremely common; earth-crabs, snails, with and without shells, 
too, were gathered in large numbers without any trouble. The 
most striking feature, however, was the wealth of butterflies in 
this forest. As they are usually associated with tropical plants, 
I had been astonished at the small part they had played hitherto 
in the country we had traversed; in the steppes, forests, etc.. 
