SIXTEEN: The Pygmy Settlement
Nomusa and Sikhulumi followed the little man through the dense forest. He walked swiftly and quietly, half running through bushes and under low branches. There was no path, and Nomusa and Sikhulumi had to move quickly to keep the Pygmy in sight. If they lost him, they might not easily find their way back to the hunters, much less find the Pygmy settlement.
Now and then the Pygmy turned to see if they were still following. Sometimes he slowed down to allow them to catch up with him. He was much stronger than he looked. Although he carried a heavy load of meat, he did not stop to rest even once.
At last they came to the Pygmy settlement. When the other Pygmies saw Nomusa and Sikhulumi, they stopped, looking startled. Nomusa’s Pygmy companion said something to them, pointing to the visitors. Then the Pygmies came forward and helped carry the smoked meat to one of their little houses.
Nomusa saw that these huts were made of bent branches tied together with vines. Leaves were laid over the branches to keep out the sun and rain. The huts were small and not carefully made. Perhaps the Pygmies did not bother to make a better hut because they did not stay in one place very long. The Zulu huts were much larger and stronger, for they stayed in the same place for years and years.
Sikhulumi explained to Nomusa that the Pygmies lived only on what wild animals they could catch and on roots and berries found growing in the forest. The Zulus owned cattle, and they planted their own gardens with a wide variety of vegetables and fruits. They did not have to wander from place to place in search of food like the Pygmies.
Their Pygmy guide now invited them to come and see the inside of a hut. Sikhulumi decided he was too big to enter, but he urged Nomusa to go in. When she crawled in through the low opening, she saw a woman, smaller than herself, carrying a baby astride her hip. The woman was cooking something in a black pot over a fire. From time to time she left the hut, returning quickly with caterpillars or winged ants, snails or lizards. All these she threw into the pot. Once a small boy, little more than half the size of Themba, came in with a bush rat to put into the pot.
Nomusa observed that these people did not sleep on mats, but on dried skins of animals, or on leaves. The hut was empty, except for a few gourds. How different were the Zulu huts, thought Nomusa. Since her people stayed a long time in one place, it did not matter how many things they collected and kept in their huts. To people like the Pygmies, who moved often, it was important not to have many things to carry.