230 MELTON AND HOMESPUN 



during our short visit to Maritzburg, we bethought us 

 of our silken-peregrine which had not been " unhooded " 

 since it passed through the hands of the astonished 

 customs officers who overhauled the " predaceous " bird 

 on its arrival at Durban some three months before. 



Now we had frequently noticed the great disquiet and 

 fear evinced by the feathered game and wildfowl of the 

 veld at the appearance of a chanting-goshawk or some 

 other bird of prey into their sanctuary. Indeed, the only 

 decent bag of greywing francolin and duck had been 

 made while one of the first-mentioned species of hawks 

 was quartering the veld in search of a hare or bird from 

 which to make its midday meal. The francolin lay so 

 close in the long, rough veld cover that they allowed us 

 to tread on them almost before condescending to rise, 

 while the duck, teal and coot scuttled into the harbourage 

 afforded them in the high dense reeds, nor did they venture 

 forth until their mortal enemy had flown to other hunting 

 grounds further aveld. But, as usual, we are digressing 

 and must " hark forrard " to the gist of our sketch. 



Bearing in mind the utter failure of our " butts," it 

 was not without a feeling of uncertainty that we invited 

 three Colonial friends to shoot under the kite, while we 

 ourselves worked the kite, for although there is no great 

 skill required on the part of the kite-flyer, we — being 

 anxious to show our Colonial cousins how the trick should 

 be done — did not care to trust the string to the clumsy 

 fingers of Brer Kafir. As luck had it there happened 

 to be a nice " slant " of wind blowing from a quarter 

 that enabled us to walk in line with the guns and to man- 

 oeuvre the kite well ahead and over the best of the ground 

 we had elected to shoot. For the purpose of steadying 



