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 off 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 
