villages, the last two being within
three miles of each other, and of such extent that I estimated each of
them to contain at least four thousand inhabitants, if not more. And
now, as every mile brought us appreciably nearer to Masakisale, the
capital and the abode of the mysterious and redoubtable Queen Bimbane,
it was no longer possible to keep the people at a distance, and I had
abundant opportunity to study their appearance, manners, dress, and
customs generally.

I feel bound to say that, taking into consideration all that I had heard
about them, my first impression was distinctly favourable. For, pygmies
though they were, they were as a rule perfectly formed; their colour was
so light that it soon became scarcely noticeable; their expression was
intelligent, and by no means unamiable, at least in the case of the
women, while as for the latter, though real beauty might be rare it was
certainly not entirely absent, and many of the younger ones were quite
good-looking, if not actually pretty. In the matter of attire, the
dress generally worn was admirably adapted to the tropical climate in
which the wearers lived, that of the men consisting simply of a pair of
tight-fitting drawers reaching to just above the knee, over which was
worn a sleeveless shirt of thick silk, confined at the waist by a belt;
while that of the women appeared to be a single garment of thick silk,
generally white, but occasionally dyed, the favourite colours being a
rich crimson, a sea green, and a very pale blue. But, apart from the
soldiers, neither sex wore any head covering, their thick hair seeming
to afford them all the protection needed from the fierce rays of the
vertical sun; but both sexes wore a kind of buskin of soft leather
reaching to just below the knee, the sole consisting of a shaped piece
of thick hide stitched on to the under part of the buskin.

The abundance of gold in the country was amply testified by the fact
that all adorned themselves more or less with ornaments, such as belts,
bracelets, armlets, or necklaces, made of the metal, many of the women
wearing, in addition, small plaques or bosses of hammered gold stitched
to the hems of their dresses, while others wore a kind of coronet,
formed of hammered or chiselled gold, in their hair. A rather sinister
feature which quickly attracted my attention was that, with scarcely a
solitary exception, the men went armed, each with a heavy,
murderous-looking knife of harden