BIRDS OF TEE COUNTRY. 893 



south of Benguela. The road to it passes over slightly undulating ground, 

 but very arid in character, alternately sandy, and of gypsum rock. It is a 

 ■wonderful relief from the desert road to arrive at the River San Francisco, 

 and see stretched for miles the beautiful green expanse of Dombe Grande. 

 There is a large quantity of pure sulphur in the gypsum hills on the northern 

 bank of this river; and it is possible sometimes to obtain a solid block of it 

 of thirty pounds in weight. Nine miles south of Dombe Grande is the little 

 bay of Cuio, not far from which copper ore is found. Some portions of this 

 ore contain silver, from a mere trace to over one hundred ounces in the ton. 

 The road from Dombe Grande to Cuio passes through some deep ravines cut 

 in solid gypsum rock by the action of the waters. It requires no kiln for 

 burning ; it is sufficient to make a pile of small pieces of the rock with any 

 kind of fuel or brushwood at hand to burn it into proper plaster of Paris. 



There are several birds in the country, the colour of whose plumage so 

 closely agrees with that of the ground as to be hardly distinguishable at a 

 little distance. Such as the sand-grouse, and three species of bustards. 

 These bustards are very abundant, and are found in pairs ; they have a 

 curious, clucking cry, which can be heard at a considerable distance ; they run 

 along the ground with great rapidity, and when alarmed fly off in a straight 

 line. Their flesh is excellent. In the woods there are several species of 

 small hornbills. Their food consists of grubs, grasshoppers, hornets' nests, 

 and hard seeds. When sitting on a tree, they frequently raise and depress 

 their crest feathers, and utter loud cries, like the squall of a sick baby. The 

 natives say that it is the male bird who sits on the nest, and that the female 

 shuts him up in the nest so that he cannot get out, and feeds him till he has 

 hatched the eggs, when she tears down the nest and lets him out. The impri- 

 soned bird is then very lean and in ragged plumage. In Benguela, when a 

 man looks very thin and miserable, they always say that he looks like the 

 hornbill when he has been let out of the nest. The wattled crane is common 

 in the interior, and is often brought for sale to the coast by the caravans. 

 They get very tame and playful, and it is amusing to see them rush in fun 

 at the women and children, with their wings and beak wide open. The ox- 

 bird is very commonly seen on the cattle at Benguela. It appears to feed 

 entirely on ticks. It is curious to watch the manner in which they crawl all 

 over the body of an ox or large animal, which they are enabled to do by 

 their strong claws tipped with exceedingly sharp, hooked nails. They will 

 accompany a herd of cattle only for a certain distance, when they will return 

 to their usual locality, and others immediately make their appearance and 

 take charge of the herd. 



From Benguela to Mossamedes almost all the numerous bays on the coast 

 are inhabited by Portuguese. The fishery of the coast is mostly carried on 

 by deep lines, and the fish caught are opened flat, and salted and dried in the 



