MY PYGMY AND NEGRO HOSTS
By Paul Schebesta
Dr. Schebesta's latest book (Hutchinson, 18s.) is notable mainly for the chapters describing the half-pygmies of the Belgian Congo. Originally the offspring of negroes and pygmy women, they now constitute a sort of serf class under the tutelage of certain negro tribes, The -author studied Ow- ticularly the highly complex social organisation of -the Nkundus of Equatorial Province and the Bachsiti pygmies who serve them, but in his anxiety to avoid technicalities he has ihused-the—oppcittaaitydr to anthropological studies. He tells us just enough to whet our interest, and then passes on to the more lurid and common- place phases of life in the Congo, which, presumably, popular,. taste demands. The Nkundus and 13achwas live apart; midi intermarriage is forbidden. The former are the agriculturalists of the community, while the latter are the hunters 'and. responsible for the villages' supply of game. The pygmies have their own settlements outside the main negro villages,' and in these "servants' quarters" live their own lives' un- molested by their masters—so long, of course, as they perform their duties. This economic arrangement works well, and has brought peace to these tribes who were formerly enemies. • The horrid activities of the Anyoto—" leopard-men"—which: is a secret society for the practice of cannibalism, are described in some detail, and add the requisite touch of horror to this readable, but unsatisfying, travel-book.
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