Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 January 1916 — PYGMIS of the CONGO [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PYGMIS of the CONGO

HERBERT LANG, who has returned to civilization with the largest collection of specimens of animal life ever acquired in Africa, saw a good deal of the pygmies in the interior regions of the Belgian Congo, Where he spent six years. He was in charge of the Congo expedi-. tlon of the American Museum of Natural History. Altogether it is estimated that the members of the expedition gathered more than 20,000 large specimens for the museum and the collections in the aggregate weighed 45 tons. When Mr. Lang and his associate, James P. Chapin, arrived in Africa they first established headquarters at Stanleyville, with an equipment including 11 tons of supplies, which the? packed Into loads of 60 pounds each for transportation over the trail leading into the forest. With the assistance of the Belgian government the explorers secured 200 native porters to carry their packs and started out on the journey from Stanleyville to Avakubi, which was accomplished in about twenty-one days. “Our chief difficulty,” said Mr. Lang, with reference to the equipment of the expedition, “was caused by the extreme humidity of the forest, to which our supplies to a certain extent were exposed. Whenever our expedition arrived at a village in the Congo the chieftain of the tribe usually greeted us and brought us presents of chicken, rice and bananas and other fruit. In exchange for these favors we gave

clothes and useful articles "to the natives, who invariably are glad to welcome the white man to the Congo forest. We pitched our tent wherever night overtook us and often occupied for a dwelling place one of the shelter houses used by the natives. Pygmies Are Not Shy. “We 'discovered the first pygmy at Avakubi, and he was a prisoner on a charge of having killed a spear. Contrary to the general idea the pygmies are not shy. They are a trifle suspicious, but after they make your acquaintance they are not unlike other tribes of native Africans. “The pygmies live by hunting chiefly and frequently bring in antelope and other game to the villages, which they are glad to exchange for food. They are quite expert in tracking games and shoot everything with bow and arrow. On the track of pig game the chiefs, women and children all join in the pursuit until the animal is captured. Sometimes they will give a tip to other natives about the discovery of game and then when the hunter'sbag is.filled they will demand a share of the trophy. “At one time we arrived at a vllla ge of 200 pJrgxQfißß and witnessed a. characteristic pygmy dance. The pygmies dance in a circle to the aceom- - panlment of the beating of a gong, and sometimes a drum. During the dance wino palms afitf the banana is consumed by the dancers." ■ Both the pygmy men and the women danced for the explorers and Mr. Lang, who, by the way, took more than six,

thousand pictures in the field of African life, game and other subjects, succeeded in securing some' capital negatives of the pygmies. ' “The women are slightly smaller than the men,” he said, “and their clothing consists chiefly of the bark of African trees. They usually speak the language of the tribe they happen to associate with, and the little people are ruled by their own chieftains. Live in Leafy Bowers. “Some of their places of abode are formed by bowers of large leaves in the depths of the forest. Others imitate the tribes or nearby natives and build their huts. Their villages are apart from each other. Once in a while they have a clash with the larger native tribes, but generally are not considered quarrelsome. “Most of the natives are fond of music and dancing, and some of the tribes possess very elaborate musical instruments.^”^ 696 include antelope horns and wooden horns covered with animal skins and are used fqr ceremonial and other dances.” The natives also use wooden and iron clappers and iron rings upon their ankles, which make an odd sound during the dance. Some of the dances are the ceremonial, in which they initiate the natives into the secret societies, and the medicine man dance. The explorer said in response to a question that he had not seen any evidence of cannibalism, but he added: “Nearly all African tribes are cannibals, but owing to the influence of the

government and recent training this feature of life in wilds has been practically eliminated.” Ip fighting the natives usually resort to spears and poisoned arrows, their chief weapon in conflict. A messenger system has been established throughout the Congo region, whereby reports from chieftains in the Belgian Congo are received constantly. The entire region is closely patrolled by native messengers. *.

DANCE, or THE MAKERE. TRIBE

Painted Azande Hut