KLIPSPRINGER SHOOTING. 73 



The ruddy-billed intruders we had thus disturbed 

 were, I suppose, searching for grains of comfort in 

 the tiny enclosures devoted to the scant crops of our 

 mountain farm. Now we crossed the bottom of the 

 valley, and, after a two-mile walk, reached the foot 

 of a mountain where we expected to find game. 

 Igneese had so guided us that the gentle breeze blew 

 in our faces, and we at once began the ascent. This 

 proved a very serious undertaking, for the mountain- 

 side was here composed of crumbling rocks and 

 shingle, which were not only infinitely distressing, but 

 necessitated the greatest caution as we approached 

 a broad, bushy ledge, where our Kaffir first expected 

 to hit upon the antelopes. Three-quarters of an 

 hour's toil, however, found us well up the mountain- 

 side, on fairly level ground, and not far from 

 the ledge I have mentioned. We now separated 

 and approached the cover in different directions, 

 forming a third of a circle. In five minutes more we 

 were in the bush, and very shortly, peering through 

 it with the Kaffir, I espied two pairs of handsome 

 little brown antelopes gallop rapidly from an open 

 space, where they had been feeding, and dive into 

 some bushes on the other side. We had no time to 

 fire, but immediately rushed after the klipspringers. 

 Two of them, which we followed, turned to the left 

 straight up the mountain, while the other pair went 



judging by the noise, shrill, and twittering they themselves give forth. Con- 

 cerning the nest itself, Mr. Layard observes, "the nest is a large structure, 

 composed of straw, grasses, feathers, wool, paper, rags, etc. It is often as 

 large as a stable bucket round, and with an entrance in the side. The interior 

 is a mass of feathers, and the eggs, from eight to fourteen in number, are pure 

 white and oval ." Imagine a nest common to half-a-dozen birds, 



each capable of laying fourteen eggs, especially if the hatchings out are 

 coincident, as I believe they often are. The result must be surely appalling 

 even to these light-hearted creatures. 



