256 FURTHER DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 



ers' descriptions; ihey stand out in the sea itself, and are only dry 

 at a low tide. Ships are laden with its wood, which is used for fuel, 

 and many camels live entirely on its great laurel-like leaves. The 

 coast is covered in some places to great distances by saltpetre shrubs, 

 and by many other saline plants. 



The traveler who is forced to provide himself wnth food l)y his 

 rifle in the chase devotes his attention chiefly to the wild oxen, wild 

 pigs, and dilTerent kinds of antelopes which provide him with eat- 

 able food when there are no tame creatures, such as goats, sheep, 

 fowl, and fish to be met with. The latter case, however, is seldom 

 experienced, for domestic animals are sure to be found wherever 

 there are Negro settlements. 



MANY KINDS OF ANIMALS. 



The wild ox is the same as the short-horned breed, also found 

 in East Africa. The wild pig, v/hich is also found, and frec|uently 

 makes its appearance in herds, is known as the long-eared pig. Its 

 color is dark yellowish red. The flesh is pleasant as food, and is 

 liked also by Negroes. The wild pigs are generally catight by the 

 help of spears and pits dug to ensnare them. These traps make 

 certain parts of the v.oods rather dangerous to walk in, and the 

 traveler has to submit l)lindly to his guides, who are taken from the 

 adjoining neighborhood, and who know^ exactly where such traps 

 are laid. In the easi; and the south, this "most beautiful of all pos- 

 sible pigs" is replaced by the bush pig, while the whole of Central 

 Africa is the home of the clumsiest and ugliest of all known bristly 

 animals, the wart-hosr. 



There are at least ten kinds of antelopes in the forests of Gaboon 

 and the district of the Ogowe, from the elegant little dwarf antelope, 

 Vvhich stands scarcely twenty inches high, to the white-striped 

 antelope of Bango, ^^•hich reaches the size of a fallow deer. Large 

 herds of these animals, which are so frequently found in the open 

 plateaus of Central Africa, are naturally unknown in the dense 

 woods of the western part of the continent. From the exceptional 

 character of the animals, their extreme shyness and speed, they 

 are very hard to capture in the chase, and even the Negroes gen- 



