76 KLOOF AND KARROO. 



magnificent view of kloof and hillside. Away near 

 the cliff tops, an eagle or two could be seen sweeping 

 hither and thither with ever-searching eyes. Close 

 to us, on the right hand, hovered a stein valk (stone 

 falcon), [Tinnunculus rupicolus), well known to Le 

 Vaillant as Le montagnard. This pretty little 

 kestrel greatly resembles our English kestrel, 

 indeed its habits are almost perfectly identical. 

 The reddish general colouring, the hovering flight, 

 the swift-dropping stoop, and the quarry it follows, 

 — small birds, mice, etc., are reproduced in " the 

 mountaineer," precisely as they appear in its 

 European cousin. The Boers call it as often 

 rooi valk (red falcon) as stein valk. Presently we 

 rose and resumed our tramp, with the result of 

 bagging one more klipspringer, and sighting in the 

 distance a herd of vaal (grey) rhebok {Pelea capreola), 

 another mountain antelope. As we retrace our steps 

 homewards, we pass through a kloof, where the 

 sinking sun lights up the rocks on our left most 

 gloriously, bathing them in the soft red, mellow glow 

 of African evening, while on our right everything is 

 in deepest shadow. Then, as we near home, we 

 pause to watch the beautiful Angora goats drink at 

 the pool below the house, the parting gleams of 

 daylight lingering lovingly on their snow-white silky 

 coats. Finally, after a twenty-mile tramp, just as a 

 Kaffir brings in the game on a pony, with which he 

 had followed us, we retire indoors to supper, after- 

 wards to amuse our friends, as we had the Boers 

 and accommodation-house keepers on our travels, 

 with festive dis\3ourse on the banjo and a song 

 or two. 



