238 GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 



quadrupeds and birds of inferior flight, and when pressed by hunger 

 will feed on carrion. The flight of this bird is very majestic; it 

 sails along with extended wings and can ascend until it disappears 

 from view, without any apparent motion of the wings or tail ; and 

 from the greatest height it descends with a rapidity, which can 

 scarcely be followed by the eye. The power of wing is not more 

 remarkable than the consummative skill with which the strong 

 pinions are made to cut the air. 



These birds live to a great age. They are generally seen in 

 pairs and the union seems to last for life. The attachment of the 

 old birds to their young is very great. The breeding season com- 

 mences about March and though each male has but one mate during 

 its entire life, many and fierce are the battles, which arise about the 

 possession of these spouses. It is a singular circumstance in the 

 formation of this bird that the outer toe turns easily backward, so 

 as on occasion to have two of the toes forward and two backward, 

 and it has a much larger claw than the inner one. This, and the 

 roughness of the whole foot underneath, are well adapted for the 

 securing of its prey. 



FOREST-CLAD SLOPES AND BEAUTIFUL VALLEYS. 



During the spring and summer months the osprey is frequently 

 seen hovering over the rivers for minutes without visible change 

 of place. It then suddenly darts down and plunges into the water, 

 whence it seldom rises again without a fish in its talons. When it 

 rises in the air it shakes ofif the water and pursues its way towards 

 the woods. 



Our traveler was now fairly in the midst of African scenes. 

 The wilderness was broken only by the little villages which every 

 now and then appeared peeping through the crevices of their won- 

 derful fortresses of acacia, and the people were fully up to the 

 average in genuine African characteristics. 



- Crossing the Ungerengeri, a beautiful river with a broad fertile 

 valley, and passing through the narrow belt of country which is all 

 that is left to the warlike remnants of the once powerful Wakami 

 tribe, the intrepid traveler entered the territory of the Wadoe, a 



