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GUINEA 



GUINEA PEPPER 



stretch of coast-line, commencing from the north, 

 are as follows : the French colony of Senegal, the 

 English settlements on the Gambia, the Portuguese 

 territory of Bissao or Bissajos, the coastal fringe 

 before Futa-Jallon, Sierra Leone (British), the 

 free negro republic of Liberia, the Ivory and Gold 

 Coasts (shared between France and Britain), the 

 Slave Coast (belonging to Germany, Britain, and 

 France), the Niger delta (falling within the 

 British sphere of commercial interest), and Cam- 

 eroon (now German) in Upper Guinea; and in 

 Lower Guinea, the Spanish settlements on Corisco 

 Bay, the French colony of the Gaboon, the Congo 

 Free State, and the Portuguese colony of Angola : 

 Congo, Loanda, Benguela, Mossamedes. The coast- 

 line is tolerably uniform, and everywhere flat, with 

 numerous shallow lagoons separated from the 

 ocean by narrow spits of sand, lying parallel to 

 the coast. Proceeding inland, the country rises to 

 the central plateau of the continent by a series of 

 broad terrace-like steps, down which the longer 

 rivers are generally precipitated in cataracts and 

 rapids. The Genoese claim to have reached the 

 coasts of Guinea in 1291. They were regularly 

 visited by merchants from Rouen and Dieppe from 

 1364, but? were not colonised until the Portuguese, 

 under Henry the Navigator, sent out colonies hither 

 ( 1481 ). The vast indentation of the Atlantic lying 

 between Upper and Lower Guinea is called the 

 Gulf of Guinea. Of late it is usual to restrict the 

 name of Guinea to Upper Guinea, in which there 

 are three ethnological groups : ( 1 ) Tshi-speaking 

 tribes, the most barbarous, including the Ashantees ; 



(2) Ehwe-speaking, including the Dahomeyans ; 



(3) Yoruba-speaking, including the Egbas and 

 other relatively civilised peoples. French influ- 

 ence has been greatly developed in Guinea of late, 

 both on the Coast and in the Hinterland. French 

 Guinea, without Futa Jallon, the Ivory Coast, or 

 Dahomey, includes Grand Bassam, Assinie, Grand 

 Lahou, and Jackeville on the Gold Coast; and 

 Porto Novo, Grand Popo, Kotonou, and Agoue on 

 the Bight of Benin. See separate articles on GOLD 

 COAST, &c. 



Guinea, a gold coin current in Great Britain 

 from 1664 down to 1817, when it was superseded by 

 the Sovereign (q. v. ), was at first coined out of gold 

 from the Guinea coast. It was designed to be of 

 the value of twenty shillings, and as legal tender 

 it had no higher value till 1718. But its actual value 



Guinea of Charles II. 



varied. Thus in 1695 it was as high as thirty 

 shillings, in 1697 twenty-two shillings, thereafter 

 till 1717 twenty-one and sixpence, but was finally 

 fixed at twenty-one shillings. It is still customary 

 in Great Britain to estimate professional fees, 

 honoraria of all kinds, complimentary subscriptions, 

 prices of pictures, race-horses, &c. in guineas. In 

 ' spade guineas ' the reverse bears a spade-shaped 

 shield with the royal arms. 



Guinea, Corn, a name sometimes given to 

 Durra (q.v.) ; sometimes to a Millet (q.v.). 



Guinea Fowl (Numida), a genus of African 

 birds in the Pheasant family ( Phasianidse ). The 



plumage is dark gray, with round spots of white, 



generally larger on the back and under surface, 

 orne species are adorned on the head with a 

 helmet or horny casque, while others have fleshy 

 wattles on the cheeks and a tuft or top-knot on the 

 crown. The genus is represented by nine species, 

 in the Ethiopian region east to Madagascar, south 

 to Natal. The best known is the Common Guinea 

 Fowl or Pintado (N. meleagris ), also popularly 



Common Guinea Fowl (Numida meleagris). 



known as 'Come-back,' from its cry, with naked! 

 head, hard callous casque, and slate-coloured plum- 

 age, everywhere speckled with round white spots of 

 various sizes. It is common in Guinea and south- 

 wards to the Cape of Good Hope. It is found also- 

 in more northern parts of Africa, and was known 

 to the ancient Romans, by whom it was called 

 Meleagris and Gallina Numidica, and highly 

 prized. In their wild state the birds occur in 

 flocks, sometimes of fifty to sixty, and are extremely 

 shy and difficult to approach. They utter a- 

 frequent, harsh, and querulous cry. They are not 

 so polygamous as many of the gallinaceous birds, 

 and even in domestication show a tendency to pair. 

 The guinea fowl is now common in the poultry- 

 yards of most parts of Europe, although it is more 

 adapted to warm than to cold climates, and in 

 Jamaica has been completely naturalised, so as to 

 be destructive to crops and to be shot like other 

 game. In Britain the young are rather trouble- 

 some to rear, but both birds and eggs command 

 high prices in the market. The eggs are small, 

 and have a thick, strong shell, but are par- 

 ticularly esteemed. The flesh is somewhat like a 

 pheasant's, but rather dry. Guinea fowls, however, 

 are troublesome in a poultry-yard, from the dis- 

 position of the males to attack and tyrannise over 

 other poultry. 



Guinea Grass (Panicum maximum), a grass 

 of the same genus with Millet (q.v. ), a native of 

 Guinea and Senegal, but introduced at an early 

 period to the West Indies, where it is extensively 

 cultivated, and by the abundance and excellence 

 of its forage forms most important pasture. 

 Other species of the same genus are among the 

 most useful pasture and forage grasses of tropical 

 countries. 



Guinea Pepper, a name which has been 

 variously applied to the seeds or dried fruit of 

 several very different plants, agreeing in their 

 peppery character, and in being the produce of the 

 west of Africa. The name Maleguetta (Malagheta, 

 Meleguetta, &c. ) Pepper is generally to be regarded 

 as equivalent with Guinea Pepper, and is at present 

 a frequent designation of Grains of Paradise (q.v. ) ; 

 but the capsules or dry berries of Capsicum frutes- 

 cens ( see CAPSICUM ) are commonly but erroneously 



