94 NATURE AND SPORT IN SOUTH AFRICA 



for the lack of little refinements and the roughs and 

 tumbles of up-country life. 



It is impossible here even to hint at a hundredth 

 part of the wild life about our little river. Perhaps 

 of all those far migrants from Northern Europe the 

 wading birds are most interesting. We had with us 

 at times various plovers and snipes, stints and sand- 

 pipers. Some of these birds undoubtedly nest within 

 or near the Arctic Circle, and yet in their almost 

 incredible migration manage to reach the Cape. 

 Surely this instinct of migration is one of the most 

 wonderful things in all nature ? Of these graceful 

 waders, I think the beautiful avocet, with its dainty 

 black and white plumage and long, slender, upturned 

 bill, was the most welcome in our valley. 



Did we require sport or a dinner of venison, the 

 mountains around gave us that freely. The Yaal 

 (grey) rhebok furnishes as good stalking as a man 

 can wish for; the active klipspringer, sprightliest 

 and most handsome of mountain antelopes, the true 

 chamois of South Africa, is not to be excelled for hill 

 shooting, though you must climb far and shoot 

 steadily to bring him down. And the flesh of this 

 antelope is very capital eating. Upon the more 

 open of our hillsides we could reckon upon a 

 decent bag of grey-wing partridge — francolin they 

 are more rightly called. Sometimes a couple or 

 two of wild duck, or widgeon, or big red-billed 



