28 KLOOF AND KARROO. 



prize, and found that by good chance both bullets 

 had struck him one at the base of the neck, the 

 other through the wing and body. This was a 

 stroke of luck indeed, and after mutual congratula- 

 tions we resumed our journey with spirits greatly 

 increased. During a stay of considerable length in 

 Cape Colony I only had the fortune to secure one 

 other paauw, though I saw half a dozen or more. 

 Our captive scaled twenty-six pounds that night on 

 being weighed, but these grand sporting birds run 

 as heavy as thirty-five pounds and forty pounds, and 

 in the interior even, I believe, more than fifty 

 pounds in weight. The flesh of this bustard is 

 delicious, and partakes of the true game flavour ; 

 and the bird is further distinguished from the rest 

 of its family by its faculty of putting on fat as 

 well as flesh, a quality in which most South African 

 game birds are rather lacking. 



This was a day of new sensations to us, for in 

 addition to securing the koorhaans and the paauw, 

 we sighted a steinbok, one of the most dainty and 

 beautiful of the smaller South African antelopes, 

 as well as a pair of the curious secretary birds. 

 The steinbok which we caught sight of upon a 

 thinly-bushed kopje (little hill), quickly disappeared, 

 but the secretaries were for some time in view. 



These extraordinary birds were descried stalking 

 solemnly on the flats about 200 yards away. We 

 stopped the carts, and had a good look at them 

 as they paced steadily hither and thither, occasionally 

 taking a short swift run in search of their prey 

 snakes, lizards, mice, the young of hares and 

 game, eggs, and, indeed, almost any unconsidered 

 trifle they may happen on. This singular bird 



