HUNTING IN THE MOUNTAINS 



I also killed some small grey hares. They are often 

 to be seen near the Kafir gardens, and the natives who 

 naturally value their flesh, set numerous snares for 

 them. I also obtained a species of genet, whose death 

 resulted in an amusing episode. 



It was in September ; we had just had a wet day, 

 and it is generally after such a day that the nocturnal 

 beasts of prey attempt a raid. During dinner I 

 had mentioned this circumstance to my wife, and had 

 loaded my guns more carefully than usual. 



In the night I was awakened by the cries of a hen 

 being killed. I snatched up the 12-bore and went 

 down to the hen-house. One of our hens had just 

 got a brood of young chicks, and in order to make 

 her and her family comfortable I had built a little 

 shed. It was from this shed that the cries proceeded. 

 At the same moment as I arrived there, one of my 

 Kafirs also ran up. He began to open the door and 

 I saw an animal appear on the roof, which I brought 

 down with my gun. It was a genet, the smallest 

 of the civet tribe I have come across in South Africa. 



Its coat is very pretty, pale grey, dotted with 

 variable spots, differing in individuals. Not so high 

 as a cat, it is longer and of about the same weight. 

 Passing the day in hollow trees, it hunts at night, 

 killing rats and mice, robbing nests, lying in wait for 

 small birds and young partridges, and also plundering 

 hen-houses and killing the inmates. The genet, 

 like the civet, has the peculiarity of yielding civet. 



(15) 



