242 GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 



slaves; associate these with a weakh of Persian carpets, most luxur- 

 ious bedding, complete services of silver for tea and coffee, with 

 magnificently carved dishes of tinned copper and brass lavers ; and 

 we have a catalogue out of which our imagination produces pictures 

 of luxury that, amid the wildness and rudeness of that barbarous 

 land, seem more like the magician's work than tangible realities, 

 which await the worn-out traveler across six hundred miles of plains 

 and mountains and rivers and swamps, where a succession of naked, 

 staring, menacing savages throng the path in w^onder at a white face. 

 A further description of some of the tropical birds will prove 

 of interest to the reader who wishes to obtain a correct idea of the 

 wonders abounding in Africa. 



GUINEA-HENS PECULIAR TO AFRICA. 



Guinea-hens are peculiar to Africa, where they frequent woods 

 on the banks of rivers, in large flocks. They feed on grains, grass- 

 hoppers and other insects. When alarmed they attempt to escape 

 by running, rather than by flight. The common guinea-hen is 

 slate colored, covered all over with round white spots and is about 

 the size of the common fowl. They are very noisy and troublesome, 

 always quarreling with the other inmates of the poultry yard, and 

 they are hard to raise from the delicacy of the young and their lia- 

 bility to disease. 



Their flesh is of fine flavor and their eggs are excellent. They 

 are great feeders, recjuiring to be fed beyond what they can pick 

 up by themselves, and are apt to injure tender buds and flowers. 

 The crested guinea-fowl or pintado has a crest of black feathers 

 and the body black with blue spots ; the mitred pintado has the head 

 surmounted by a conical helmet and is black, white spotted. 



The four species of pintado hitherto known are all natives of 

 Africa and of islands adjacent to the African coast. Their mode 

 of feeding is similar to that of the domestic poultry. They scrape 

 the ground with their feet in search of insects, worms or seeds. 

 The females lay and hatch their eggs nearly in the same manner as 

 the common hens. The eggs, however, are smaller and h^ve a 

 harder shell. Buffon states that there is a remarkable differencx. 



