On my way into camp I saw another pigmy in one of the villages. He had brought honey to trade with the Ruanda people for grain. The natives informed me that the pigmies have no settled villages, nor do they cultivate anything. They live the life of the brute in the forests, perpetually wandering in search of honey or in pursuit of elephant; when they succeed in killing anything, they throw up a few grass shelters and remain there till all the meat is either eaten or dried. They depend upon the other natives for the necessary grain, which they either steal or barter for elephant-meat or honey. All their knives, spear-heads, and arrow-heads they likewise purchase from other people, but they make their own bows and arrows. So well are these made that they are held in great esteem by the surrounding people. This pigmy fled on my approach, and although the country was perfectly flat, and therefore my boys were on equal terms when they tried to catch him, he easily escaped. The pace at which he ran was extraordinary. It is curious to notice how perfectly adapted they are to the surroundings in which they live; the combination of immense strength necessary for the precarious hunting-life they lead, and of compactness, indispensable to rapid movement in dense forest, where the pig-runs are the only means of passage, is a wonderful example of nature’s adaptability. After a few days’ rest I made my third and successful attempt to cross the lava-beds, which I describe in the following chapter on Mushari. Sharp undertook to take the live stock and the main caravan round the southern slope of Mount Götzen, and to eventually meet me in Mushari. This involved a waterless tramp of twenty-five miles, unless he could find the pool of water spoken of by Count Götzen as existing in a small crater on the lava-bed between Mount Götzen and the lake. On the road he had to pass near the place where he had lost our thirty sheep and goats, and he determined to recapture them, if possible. Seeing a large flock being driven off across the plain he gave chase, followed by two of his boys, while the main caravan halted. After a sharp dash over the roughest country imaginable, semi-disintegrated lava and scrubby bush, he succeeded in collecting twenty-five goats, and in driving them to his camping-place. The natives meanwhile collected in large numbers and fired volleys of arrows at him, all of which fortunately missed their mark. When he rejoined the main body of his caravan he found that two men had been wounded by arrows. An enormous concourse of natives rapidly gathered on the surrounding hills.