NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



and Python. Eagles swoop down and carry off the 

 fawns when chance offers. 



Klipspringers, during the heat of the day, seek the 

 shade afforded by rock crevices, or the cool shade 

 of some deep kloof, or the bush which invariably 

 grows at the foot of their rocky, elevated homes. 

 When disturbed in these situations they instantly 

 spring off and away up the hillside. 



Their strength, vitality and energy is astonishing, 

 for, without any apparent effort, a Klipspringer will 

 bound up the face of a hill covered with smooth, 

 slippery rocks, and so steep that no animal other 

 than a Baboon could possibly find a foothold. The 

 latter animal has hands and feet specially adapted 

 for gripping the smallest projection of rock, but the 

 Klipspringer has no such aids, which makes its 

 performances amongst the crags and krantzes so 

 marvellous. Kirby witnessed a Klipspringer leap 

 from the edge of a krantz to a jutting ledge below, 

 a distance of about 30 feet, at a single leap, and, 

 steadying itself for a moment, it ran at a rapid pace 

 obliquely down a precipice. 



The Klipspringers which inhabit Van Staadens 

 heights near Port Elizabeth breed from July to 

 October. They inhabit the most elevated and 

 rugged cliffs in the neighbourhood, and come out 

 of their resting-places during the late afternoon and 

 early evening and descend to drink and feed in the 

 valleys. The instant a man or dog appears they 

 bound away and up to their elevated retreats. 



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