GUILMANT 



3737 



GUINEA FOWL 



Guillotine is also used as a 

 political term to indicate the 

 procedure by which the discussion 

 of a measure in parliament is cut 

 short by fixing a day or hour at 

 which the discussion must end. 

 See Capital Punishment. 



Guilmant, FELIX ALEXANDRE 

 (1837-1911). French organist and 

 composer. Born at Boulogne, 

 March 12, 1837, the son of an or- 

 ganist, he became himself organist 

 of a church there at the age of 

 sixteen. His masters were his 

 father and the Belgian Lemmens. 

 In 1871 Guilmant was appointed 

 organist of the church of the Trinity 

 in Paris, a post he retained for 

 thirty years. He composed much 

 excellent music for the organ, was 

 professor at the Conservatoire, and 

 undertook concert tours through 

 Europe. 



Guimaraes. Town of Portugal, 

 in the district of Braga. It is 36 m. 

 by rly. N.E. of Oporto by a branch 

 line. Its llth century castle was 

 the birthplace of Alfonso (1094), 

 the first king of Portugal. The 

 14th century church of Santa 

 Maria da Oliveira is built on the 

 site of an older edifice, traditionally 

 connected with King Wamba (672- 

 680). It has an arcaded town hall. 

 The sulphur springs near the town 

 were the Roman Aquae Laevae. 

 In the neighbourhood is Mons 

 Citania, a prehistoric Iberian city, 

 some ruins of which are still extant. 

 Pop. 8,860. 



Guinea. Obsolete gold coin of 

 the English currency. It was first 

 struck in 1663, deriving its name 



Guinea of George HI, known as the 



spade guinea from the shield. Actual 



diameter, 1 inch 



from the fact that the gold used 

 was imported by a chartered com- 

 pany trading with Guinea, W. 

 Africa. Its nominal value was 20 

 shillings, but through the rapid 

 depreciation of the silver coinage 

 during the latter part of the 17th 

 century, it rose to be worth as much 

 as 30 shillings by 1694. It sank, 

 however, and in 1717 its value was 

 fixed at 21 shillings. Pieces of , 2, 

 and 5 guineas were also struck, and 

 in 1718 a \- guinea was coined. The 

 last isssue was that of 1813, and in 

 1817 its place as the standard gold 

 coin was taken by the sovereign 

 (q.v.). As a monetary unit, the 

 guinea has survived, and certain 

 payments, e.g. professional fees, are 

 customarily reckoned in guineas. 



Guinea. Name applied to a large 

 portion of W. Africa. It covers the 

 territory from the mouth of the 

 Senegal to the S. portion of An- 

 gola, and came into general use 

 in the 15th century. 



Guinea, FRENCH, OR LA GUINEE 

 FRANgAiSE. French colony on the 

 coast of W. Africa. It lies between 

 Portuguese Guinea and the British 

 colony of Sierra Leone, by which 

 it is bounded on the N.W. and S.E. 

 respectively. On the N. the French 

 colonies of Senegal and Upper 

 Senegal-Niger, on the S. Liberia, 

 and on the E. the French colony of 

 the Ivory Coast form the boun- 

 daries. 



The colony's area is 95,218 sq. m. 

 and the pop. is 1,851,200, includ- 

 ing 1,200 Europeans. The colony 

 may be divided into three geogra- 

 phical zones: (1) the flat coastal 

 districts varying in width from 

 25 m. to 65 m. ; (2) a succession of 

 high plateaux culminating in (3) 

 Fouta-Djallon (Futa-Jallon), a 

 mountainous region forming the 

 watershed of the rivers Gambia, 

 Senegal, and Niger. The inhabi- 

 tants of these regions are generally 

 of mixed origin. The principal 

 tribes are the Diallonkes or Sous- 

 sous, amongst whom Mahomed- 

 anism is making rapid progress ; 

 the Timenes ; and the Foulahs. 



The colony is administered by a 

 lieutenant-governor responsible to 

 the governor-general of French W. 

 Africa, and an administrative 

 council, and is divided into two 

 communal districts (Konakry, the 

 capital, and Kankan), 18 circles, 

 and a military region situated to 

 the N. of Liberia. The principal 

 products are ground-nuts, tobacco, 

 gum, timber, kola nuts, rice, 

 cotton, wax, and ivory, and there 

 is a large trade in skins and hides, 

 the country being specially rich in 

 cattle, sheep, and goats. The chief 

 towns are Konakry (7,385), the 

 capital, an important port ; Kou- 

 rossa (3,142) and Siguri (3,734), 

 on the Niger; Kankan (7,126), 

 Dubreka (1,335), Boke (3,803), on 

 the Nunez; and Mamon (2,411). 

 Konakry is in touch with the Niger 

 by means of the railway to Kourossa 

 (366 m.) and Kankan (49 m. fur- 

 ther), and thence by waterway to 

 Bamako and the Senegal rly. 



Guinea, PORTUGUESE. Colony in 

 W. Africa, with an area of about 

 13.944 sq. m., completely sur- 

 rounded by French territory, except 

 where it faces the Atlantic. On the 

 N. is Senegal, on the S. French 

 Guinea. The country is well watered 

 and fertile. Five rivers, the Geba, 

 Mansoa, Cacheo, Buba, and Cacine, 

 are of commercial importance. The 

 population consists of Foulahs, 

 Man dingoes, Mamjaks, and other 



races, and numbers about 300,000. 

 The principal products are rubber, 

 palm nuts, coffee, cotton, cocoa, 

 rice, and ground-nuts ; and hard 

 timbers, such as mahogany, cam- 

 wood, and ebony, are plentiful. 

 Cattle are very numerous. For ad- 

 ministrative purposes the colony 

 is divided into five districts : Bis- 

 sau, Boulama, Cacheo, Farim, and 

 Geba. The chief commercial cen- 

 tres are Boulama, Bissau, Cacheo, 

 and Cacine. 



Guinea, SPANISH, OR Rio MUNI. 

 Colony belonging to Spain, situated 

 to the S. of Cameroons, and by the 

 Franco-German Agreement of 1911 

 entirely surrounded by that terri- 

 tory except where it borders on the 

 sea. The colony is administered 

 from Santa Isabel in the island of 

 Fernando Po (q.v. ). In addition to 

 the territory on the mainland 

 (known as Rio Muni) the colony 

 consists of the islands of Annobon, 

 Little and Great Elobey, Corisco, 

 and Fernando Po. The products 

 are similar to those of the French 

 Gabun Colony. Area of Rio Muni, 

 9,264 sq. m. Pop. about 100,000. 



Guinea, GULF OF. Important 

 gulf in the W. coast of Africa, 

 stretching from Liberia to Cape 

 Lopez in French Equatorial Africa. 

 It is broken by several bays, in- 

 cluding the Bight of Benin, the 

 Bight of Biafra, Corisco Bay, and 

 Nazareth Bay, and receives the 

 waters of the Volta, Niger, Ogowe, 

 and other rivers. 



Guinea Fowl (Numida meka- 

 gris). Member of the pheasant 

 tribe, of which it is the only repre- 



Guinea Fowl. Specimen of this 

 member of the pheasant tribe 



sentative in Africa. In general 

 appearance it is more suggestive of 

 a small turkey than a pheasant. 

 In its wild state the guinea 

 fowl is well distributed over S. 

 and Central Africa, but is absent 

 from the northern countries. The 

 birds live in large flocks and run 

 with great swiftness, seldom flying 

 unless compelled. It is fond of 

 roosting in low trees. ' ^ 



The guinea fowl has been domes- 

 ticated from early days and was 

 highly appreciated by the Greeks 

 and Romans. At the present day 

 it is not greatly in favour with 

 poultry breeders, as it is somewhat 



