3 i8 KLOOF AND KARROO. 



plentiful on the karroo than it now is, he and a 

 friend, while out springbok shooting, espied a huge 

 paauw stalking over the plain in the direction of a 

 rocky hill. The hunters turned their attention at once 

 to the paauw, and after some manoeuvring, drove it 

 to the base of this hill. When within about seventy 

 yards, just as they were thinking of firing, the bird 

 rose and flew upwards towards the krantz or crown 

 of the mountain. Both discharged their rifles, and 

 by good fortune one of the bullets told. The effect 

 was extraordinary. The mighty bird, sore stricken, 

 instantly towered high in air above the hill, and then 

 fell like a feathered thunderbolt. On reaching the 

 spot where their game had fallen, the hunters, to 

 their chagrin, found upon the rocks literally nothing 

 but the scattered and pulpy remains of the paauw, 

 which had burst to atoms. The bird must have 

 been more than ordinarily fat, for the amount of 

 adipose tissue lying about was beyond belief. Any 

 Cape colonist can, however, bear testimony to the 

 wonderfully high condition these birds attain. The 

 general colour of the gom paauw is an ashen grey 

 strongly mottled. The wings are lighter, and in 

 some specimens almost white, and are black mottled. 

 The wing feathers are black, the neck and head grey 

 barred with black. The top of the head is black 

 and heavily crested, and the stomach and chest are 

 white, with a band of black separating the neck from 

 the chest. The legs are yellow. An average cock 

 bird will measure about four feet eight inches in 

 length. The female is considerably smaller than the 

 male, and her plumage less bright. The body of 

 this bird is so robust, and so strongly protected by 

 feathers, that shot make little impression upon it, 



