VIEW OF THE ANIMAL CREATION AT THE CAPE. 119 



of locomotion and the habits of these individuals were similar 

 to those above mentioned. In their place of confinement it 

 was extremely amusing to see the mock air of business with 

 which they would run from corner to corner, suddenly stop- 

 ing as if to listen, then scratching and rearing themselves up 

 until generally they lost their balance and tumbled backwards 

 in the straw; these actions they would repeat over and over 

 again in the most mechanical manner, until the patience of 

 the observer at length became exhausted. 



These animals have brought forth more than once since 

 they came into the possession of the Zoological Society : and 

 it seems by no means improbable that they might be as rea- 

 dily naturalized as the guinea-pig. There is perhaps no qua- 

 druped more easy to transport : a little food, either animal 

 or vegetable, and a little milk suffice for their nourishment, 

 and they readily bear close confinement. And as the species 

 require to be rigorously compared in order to determine the 

 value of the characters that have been adopted to distinguish 

 them, it is desirable that the facility with which they may 

 be brought over should be generally known to those who 

 make voyages from South America to Europe. 



VIEW OF THE ANIMAL CREATION IN THE INTERIOR OF THE 



CAPE. 



"Upon the plains of the Sea-Cow River we fell in with 

 springboks in countless troops, with hartebeests and bonte- 

 boks. Quachas from fifty to a hundred in a troop were hourly 

 seen. The smaller kinds of game were also very plentiful. 

 Hares were continually among the horses' feet. Of this ani- 

 mal are four known species in or near the colony, — the com- 

 mon hare, the Cape hare, the mountain hare, and the red- 

 rumped hare. Of the last, the exterior part of the thighs 

 and its long tail are of a deep chestnut colour, and the ears 

 are much shorter than in the others. Cape partridges and 

 the Namanqua grouse were equally plentiful. The latter is 

 a gregarious bird, and we usually met with it in large coveys 

 near all the springs of water. So little were they intimidated 

 at the approach of our people, that they suffered themselves 

 to be knocked down with whips and sticks. A new species 

 of korhaen or bustard was also seen here ; it appeared to be 

 something like the tetrix or French field duck, but was so 

 Very wild and scarce that not one of them could be procured. 

 The Egyptian black ibis ( Tantalus niger) and another spe- 

 cies of tantalus, called by the farmers the haddadas, were 



