KNYSNA I I 7 



by bush fires, so common during the summer months in 

 these districts, so that only the bare trunks and whitened 

 branches are left standing. Those trees which have 

 been destroyed for many years are, however, clothed in 

 a fashion peculiarly their own, owing to the growth of 

 long strands of a kind of moss, known as "old man's 

 beard," which, starting from the crevices in the topmost 

 branches of the trees, hang down, in many cases, as far 

 as the ground. Thus these old trees with their ap- 

 pendages of grey moss relieve the sombre foliage of the 

 forest evergreens, and in places, themselves supply 

 the prevailing tone of the forest, imparting to it an 

 aged and somewhat venerable appearance. 



Climbing for the last time up the steep ascent of one 

 of these deep gorges, the traveller looks down upon the 

 Knysna River as it winds along many hundred feet 

 below, soon to broaden out into the wide estuary before 

 mentioned. A long, low wooden bridge spans the river 

 where its tidal waters begin, and then a road skirts the 

 shore for several miles, leading to the town of Knysna 

 itself. 



More birds are certainly to be seen in the neighbour- 

 hood of Knysna than in most places situated within 

 Cape Colony ; indeed, so far we might have considered 

 ourselves better informed as to where not to go, from 

 an ornithological point of view, than the reverse. The 

 birds round about Knysna may roughly be separated, for 

 purposes of these chapters, into three divisions : those 

 that frequent the estuary ; those that frequent the out- 

 lying portions of the forest ; and those that frequent the 

 open veldt outside the forest. Each of these groups of 

 birds, though naturally comprising many and varied 



