Then food was a difficulty, for no one would sell the few goats and chickens that they possessed. After the first fortnight they assured us that we had eaten up all the chickens in the place! (In spite of this we certainly lost weight.) Eggs were very scarce, and were sold at the same price as a chicken, for, they argued, an egg is a chicken, and the ones they brought for sale nearly proved their argument! All our boys got ill with malarial fever, and when they were at their worst a case of cholera was brought in to me for treatment. This seemed to be an unknown complaint in these parts, and the people had no idea of its infectious character. Already three deaths had occurred, and two households were stricken down with it through visiting the sick house. We immediately ordered all the infected huts to be quarantined and the strictest attention given to the burning of all contaminated matter. Fortunately the disease was thus checked from spreading, but not until four had succumbed to it. Our last Sunday spent there was a memorable occasion, for thirty-five men and women were admitted into the fold of Christ through the confession of their faith in Baptism, and sixty-two from this little “lighthouse” station united with us in Holy Communion. After the evening service two young men came forward and offered themselves to be trained as teachers to the villages beyond. So although darkness yet covers the land of Mboga it might be said “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” CHAPTER XVII In Darkest Africa. The Pigmies (Batwa) and their (Bambuba) Neighbours In attempting to describe some of the tribes that we have come in contact with round Mboga, I feel the first place should be given to the Pigmies, for although they are the smallest of all folk, yet they are one of the most ancient peoples of history. Not only do they appear in the pages of the Greek historian, Herodotus, but to-day their representatives may be traced on the Pyramids. Beyond these bare facts of their existence nothing was definitely known about them until the late Sir Henry Stanley penetrated their forest home on his search for Emin Pasha, and startled the civilised world by his marvellous accounts of these legendary folk. Judging from their present conditions of life it is impossible to believe that they have made any advance, physically or morally, during the hundreds of years that have passed by since first they were known to the outside world. [Illustration: THE FOUR PIGMIES IN KABAROLE.]