The Arab slave-raiders and ivory-hunters have often sent expeditions into the great forest, which have suffered to such an extent at the hands of these small demons, that few, and sometimes none, have returned to tell the tale of how they died, without even seeing who smote them.

Occasionally the dwarf people attack a caravan in the openings of the forest, and so agile are they in their movements that defence is practically impossible. On seeing the flash of the firing gun, they drop, and running in, hidden by the grass, spear their opponent while he is in the act of reloading. This system, though answering very well with ordinary expeditions armed with muzzle loading guns, did not succeed against us and our breech-loaders. Many of us were, however, scared by the seemingly magical appearance of these gnome-like beings