SIXTEEN: The Pygmy Settlement
Nomusa and Sikhulumi followed the little man through the dense forest. He walked swiftly and quietly, half running through bushes and under low branches. There was no path, and Nomusa and Sikhulumi had to move quickly to keep the Pygmy in sight. If they lost him, they might not easily find their way back to the hunters, much less find the Pygmy settlement.
Now and then the Pygmy turned to see if they were still following. Sometimes he slowed down to allow them to catch up with him. He was much stronger than he looked. Although he carried a heavy load of meat, he did not stop to rest even once.
At last they came to the Pygmy settlement. Whenthe other Pygmies saw Nomusa and Sikhulumi, they stopped, looking startled. Nomusa’s Pygmy companion said something to them, pointing to the visitors. Then the Pygmies came forward and helped carry the smoked meat to one of their little houses.
Nomusa saw that these huts were made of bent branches tied together with vines. Leaves were laid over the branches to keep out the sun and rain. The huts were small and not carefully made. Perhaps the Pygmies did not bother to make a better hut because they did not stay in one place very long. The Zulu huts were much larger and stronger, for they stayed in the same place for years and years.
Sikhulumi explained to Nomusa that the Pygmies lived only on what wild animals they could catch and on roots and berries found growing in the forest. The Zulus owned cattle, and they planted their own gardens with a wide variety of vegetables and fruits. They did not have to wander from place to place in search of food like the Pygmies.
Their Pygmy guide now invited them to come and see the inside of a hut. Sikhulumi decided he was toobig to enter, but he urged Nomusa to go in. When she crawled in through the low opening, she saw a woman, smaller than herself, carrying a baby astride her hip. The woman was cooking something in a black pot over a fire. From time to time she left the hut, returning quickly with caterpillars or winged ants, snails or lizards. All these she threw into the pot. Once a small boy, little more than half the size of Themba, came in with a bush rat to put into the pot.
Nomusa observed that these people did not sleep on mats, but on dried skins of animals, or on leaves. The hut was empty, except for a few gourds. How different were the Zulu huts, thought Nomusa. Since her people stayed a long time in one place, it did not matter how many things they collected and kept in their huts. To people like the Pygmies, who moved often, it was important not to have many things to carry.
When Nomusa came out of the hut, she found Sikhulumi talking to a Pygmy who knew something of the Zulu language. He was asking Sikhulumi if he had any salt.
Sikhulumi shook his head regretfully. “If we comenext year, we will surely bring some,” he promised.
The Pygmy seemed delighted with Nomusa. He asked her, “Are you married?”
[Family]
Nomusa giggled. “No, I am only ten years old.”
The man looked surprised. He came close to Nomusa and measured himself against her. He was only a tiny bit taller than she was. As he stood there Nomusa looked with interest at a necklace he wore. As she looked, she realized what it was. Now she knew why the Pygmies saved the elephant’s eyelashes.
The Pygmy saw her interest in the elephant-hair necklace and quickly took it off and offered it to her. “Bring good luck,” he said.
Nomusa looked at Sikhulumi.
“Take it,” he advised. “You will have something very unusual to show your brothers and sisters.”
Sikhulumi turned to the Pygmy. “How do your people kill elephants?”
“Come,” said the little man. “I will show you.”
The Pygmy brought out bows and arrows as well as slender spears so small that Nomusa thought little Themba would have been able to use them.
Nomusa saw that the tiny arrows were made of straight twigs of hardwood cut from a bush. The ends of the arrows were slit and a green leaf was stuck in each, instead of a feather such as the Zulus used.
The man pointed to the tips of the arrows and spears, saying, “Poison!”
“Where do you get the poison?” Nomusa asked.
The Pygmy explained. His people searched for poisonous herbs as well as for poisonous barks of trees. They also got poison from a certain black ant whose bite was terribly painful.
With many gestures, the Pygmy explained how they climbed trees under which they expected elephants to pass on their way to feeding grounds. The men in the trees threw down their poisoned spears on the passing elephants, while Pygmies on the ground shot poisoned arrows at the animals.
If the elephant did not die at once, the Pygmies knew that some of the poison would finally work inside the animal’s body and kill him. They would follow him until he dropped. Usually, he assured them, they did not have long to wait.
Nomusa was still full of curiosity. “Do the boys take care of the cattle as my brothers do?”
The Pygmy looked surprised. “We have no cattle,” he said. “We live by hunting.”
“How long have you been living here?”
“Two moons. Soon we leave. More fruit, berries, tortoises, and monkeys in new place.”
Nomusa suddenly remembered Dube. “You like monkeys?” she asked hopefully.
“Ay, very good to eat!”
It was time to go. Many of the small people came to look at the visitors curiously. Nomusa noticed that, like the men, the women wore no ornaments, beads, or bracelets.
Nomusa had a final question for the Pygmy. “How many wives do Pygmy men have?”
He looked shocked, then amused. “How many? One, of course.”
Now Nomusa really felt sorry for these people. She realized how very poor the Pygmies were, for among the Zulus it was only a poor man who had but one wife.
Their guide was ready to take them back to their camp. The Pygmies waved a friendly farewell to their visitors. One woman gave Nomusa a present—a huge dried beetle, the largest Nomusa had ever seen.
With no load to carry, the Pygmy guide spedthrough the forest so quickly that Nomusa and Sikhulumi had to run to keep up with him. He no longer bothered to look back to see if they were following. Perhaps he thought that anyone who had been over the ground once would surely know it again.
It was close to sundown, and when the long purple shadows of the trees fell across the ground, it became increasingly difficult to see the Pygmy.
At last what they feared had happened. Sikhulumi stopped, completely confused. Nomusa needed no word from him to tell her they were lost. The Pygmy was nowhere to be seen, and they did not know which path to take. Sihkulumi looked very anxious. Then they heard a whistle.
“It is he!” cried Nomusa. “But where?”
Where, indeed? Sihkulumi looked all about him. Then the whistle sounded again, and Sihkulumi’s dark face broke into a grin. He raised his eyes to the high branches of a tree. There was the Pygmy, his small body barely discernible among the green leaves.
Down he scampered, agile as a monkey. In his hand was a big piece of honeycomb, some of which hegave to Nomusa and Sihkulumi. They walked along more slowly now, and together, eating the delicious honey. But Nomusa kept a watchful eye on the Pygmy. Perhaps he might decide to play another joke on them.
But they soon reached the others, without any difficulty. The Pygmies were still smoking elephant meat, but the Zulu hunters had finished their work. They squatted about the huge fire, resting and eating. Nomusa and Sihkulumi were glad to dip their fingers into the food pot, too.
As they ate and rested, Zitu spoke.
“We can be thankful that we have had a safe and successful hunt. Tomorrow at sunrise we set out for our kraals. Let everyone remember to take care along the way so that we shall have no mishap.”
Growing drowsy by the fire, Nomusa thought of all the wonderful stories she had to tell Themba. And Mdingi would be sure to make good songs about many of the things Nomusa would tell him. Yo! She was every bit as eager to get home as she had been to leave!
Everyone was getting ready to sleep, and a sentinel had been appointed. Nomusa looked over at thePygmies to see what they were doing. The night had grown chilly, and the little men were beating their bodies with their hands and huddling close to the fire. Nomusa saw some Pygmies crawl inside the elephant. She expected them to come right out again. But they did not, and after a bit Nomusa went over to see why they stayed so long.
Inside the elephant the Pygmies lay, one next to the other, fast asleep.
[Huts]