194 KLOOF AND KARROO. 



think it over and settle my rather highly-strung 

 nerves. The Paarl, as I could now see, was an 

 unique formation of crystal-spar, singularly rounded 

 upon its face. It, and the glorious canopy of hanging 

 stalactite above it, must have been reft bare by 

 some mighty convulsion that had anciently torn 

 asunder these mountains, leaving the ravine in 

 which we stood. 



"As we drank from our water-bottles, and ate 

 some of the dried flesh and biscuits we had brought 

 with us, I noticed Klaas's keen little eyes wandering 

 inquiringly round the base of the precipice in our 

 front. He seemed puzzled ; and as we finished our 

 repast, and lit our pipes again, he said : ' The 

 hole in the rock that leads from this kloof to the 

 diamonds should be over there ' — pointing before 

 him ; ' but I can't quite make out the spot, the 

 bushes have altered and grown so since I was here 

 as a boy, years -and years ago.' 



" We got up and walked straight for the point he 

 had indicated, and reached the foot of the precipice. 

 All along here, where the sand and soil had been 

 swept in bygone floods or had formed from the slow 

 disintegration of fallen rock from above, cactus, 

 euphorbia, aloe and brush grew thickly, and in 

 particular the curious Euphorbia candelabrum, with 

 its many-branching arms, stood prominent. The 

 Bushman hunted hither and thither in the prickly 

 jungle, with the fierce rapidity of a tiger-cat after 

 a running guinea-fowl ; but, inasmuch as he was 

 sometimes prevented from immediately approaching 

 the rock-wall, he appeared unable to hit off" the 

 tunnel that led, as he had formerly told me, to the 

 valley beyond. Suddenly, after he had again 



