AT 
difficulty of springing them when found. At this season of 
the year, the ground in the uplands is so hard, that the Par- 
tridges are unable to dig into the soil for the bulbous roots 
that constitute the chief part of their food. They remain, 
therefore, in the low marshy bottoms, where the soil is still 
penetrable, and are no sooner put up, than they fly in among 
the Palmiet, where neither sportsman nor dog will willingly 
follow them. The Snipes are migratory here, as in Europe, 
and had just begun at this time to return to their usual 
haunts for the winter. 
“ Hoebucks and Duykers were seen daily; biet one only of 
the latter was shot. A Klipspringer likewise was killed, and 
in rather a curious manner. Hunting about, one morning, 
after Partridges, our party heard the barking of dogs on the 
face of the hill above them. On going to the spot, they found 
a Klipspringer standing at bay on the top of an insulated 
rock, and beset by three or four wild dogs that kept inces- 
santly barking at him. A shot or two brought him to the 
ground. The usual method of hunting this active little ante- 
lope is to set a number of dogs on his scent. They no 
sooner give chase, than he runs to the nearest accessible 
rock, and perches there, secure, as he thinks, from danger. 
The dogs, in the meantime, surround the rock to prevent his 
escape, and begin to bark. The hunter, knowing by this 
signal that his game is securely lodged, walks leisurely to e 
spot, and aote him. 
“The fur of the Klipspringer is very thick and soft, but 
intermixed with long hairs of a stiff bristly quality. Mr. 
Barrow says of this fur, that *it has the singular quality of 
being so brittle that it breaks instead of bending, adheres 
loosely to the skin, and is so very light, that it is used as the 
best article that can be procured for the stuffing of saddles 
and mattrasses.’ It would not readily occur to most persons, 
that fragility is a desirable quality in a material used for 
stuffing; and though a fold of hogskin might warrant from 
damage the nether-end of a rider, I should fear that those 
who would lie down to sleep on mattrasses so stuffed, could 
hardly fancy themselves reposing on a bed of roses. " 
