re
full-grown men. We made signs to them to come aboard, but they were
evidently in doubt whether or not to accept our invitation. We then
threw out to them some small pieces of iron and strings of beads, at
which they showed great satisfaction. These little men appeared to be
an intelligent race. Their bodies were small, but their heads, in
proportion, were large. They wore no beards, but their hair was curly
like the Kafirs, some of them wearing it tied to the neck in a knot,
and others letting it fall loose down to the waist. All of them had
holes through their noses to carry fish bones, polished white. Some
wore strings of human teeth round their necks.

At length, five, bolder than the rest, ventured aboard. They did not
appear to be afraid, and what astonished us most was that they seemed
ready to take charge of us. They made signs that we should go ashore,
and one of them, who appeared to be a chief, attempted to drive
Janstins into the sea by hitting him with a kind of hammer with a
wooden handle, and at one end a black conch shell. Janstins laughingly
disarmed his small antagonist, which seemed to surprise him as well as
the others, and brought them together in consultation.

Ten of the pygmies now came aboard, to whom we gave nutmegs and cloves,
thinking to please them. They took what we gave them, although they
appeared surprised that we should offer them anything. The little
chief, not more than three feet high, who had so amusingly attempted to
drive Janstins into the sea, again made signs to us to go ashore. So
Hartog ordered the pinnace to be manned, and armed against treachery.
But we had not come within musket shot of the beach when the water
became so shallow that we could not take the boat any farther,
whereupon a number of us stepped out into the shallows, up to our
waists in mud and kelp, and with some difficulty made our way to the
beach, where the pygmies mustered in great force.

On the beach we noticed fresh human footprints that must have been made
by men of great stature. They were twice as long as the footprints we
made, and none of us were noted for small feet. On going a short
distance into the woods we saw a vast number of huts made of dried
grass, so cramped that a man of ordinary size could not creep into them
on all fours, yet many of them contained families of pygmies. We
afterwards tried to penetrate somewhat farther into the wood, in order
to ascertain the nature and situation of