242 
GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 
slaves; associate these with a wealth of Persian carpets, most luxur¬ 
ious bedding, complete services of silver for tea and colfee, 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 wonder 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, requiring 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 have a 
harder shell. Buffon states that there is a remarkable difference 
