They furnish a great contrast to the delicately feathered mimosas of the more fertile sections of the continent. Among all the lovely children of Flora, the goddess of flowers, none can rival these plants in the beauty of their foliage.
One can gain but a faint idea of the beauty these plants attain under a tropical sun. In most species the branches extend horizontally, or are umbrella-shaped, and the deep blue sky, shining through the light green foliage, has a very picturesque effect.
CHAPTER LIII.
VIEWS OF ANIMAL LIFE.
As we study the animal life of Africa, we can but notice the great variety in its species. We find not only those kinds with which we are most familiar, and those which have become known to us through our study of other continents, but many new and strange ones, characteristic of Africa alone.
Here are found the lion, leopard, jackal, hyena, and other carnivora of the cat and dog families. Varieties of the thick-skinned animals are numerous; for we find a species of elephant somewhat different from the elephant of Asia, several varieties of the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, the wart hog, and boar, all ugly, unwieldy and clumsy in their form and movements.
In the tropics are found great varieties of monkeys, chattering wildly as they spring among the branches of the trees. The fierce gorilla haunts the dense forests, to the terror of the natives and travelers.
Du Chaillu, the explorer, had an encounter with gorillas while crossing the Sierra del Crystal to reach the Fan country. During the journey he had occasion to scale a range of granite hills and to traverse an elevated table-land. Here he found the temperature quite cold at night.
As he climbed a second range of hills he came upon the Ntambounay Falls. These he declared to be one of the grandest sights he ever beheld, and adds:—