164 RAPIDS— BIRDS. OiiAr. XIII. 



or moyela, now covered with pink plums as large as cherries. 

 The rapids rendered our passage difficult, for the water, which 

 in the portions of the river only three hundred yards wide is 

 very deep, becomes shallow in these parts from being spread 

 out more than a mile, and flows swiftly over a craggy bottom. 

 It required great address to keep the vessel free from rocks, 

 which lay just beneath the surface. The men leaped into 

 the water without the least hesitation, to save the canoes from 

 being dashed against obstructions or caught by eddies. The 

 native craft must never be allowed to come broadside on to 

 the stream, for, being flat-bottomed, they would at once be 

 capsized, and everything in them be lost. 



The rapids are caused by rocks of dark-brown trap, or of 

 hardened sandstone, stretching across the river. In some 

 places these form miles of flat craggy bottom, with islets 

 covered with trees. At one cataract, where the fall is from 

 four to six feet, we lost many of our biscuits, for in guiding 

 up the canoe the stem goes under the water, and takes in a 

 quantity. These rocks are overgrown with a small aquatic 

 plant, which, when the surface is exposed, becomes crisp, and 

 crackles under the foot, as if it contained much stony matter 

 in its tissue. It probably assists in disintegrating the rocks, 

 for they are covered with a thin black glaze in parts which 

 are so high as not to be much submitted to the action of the 

 water or the influence of the plant. 



In passing along under the overhanging trees of the banks 

 we often saw the pretty turtle-doves sitting peacefully on 

 their nests above the roaring torrent. An ibis* had perched 

 on the end of a stump. Her loud, harsh scream of " Wa-wa- 

 wa," and the piping of the fish-hawk, are sounds which can 

 never be forgotten by those who have heard them. If we 

 step on shore, the Charadrius caruncula, a species of plover, a 

 plaguy sort of "public-spirited individual," follows, flying 

 overhead, and is most persevering in its attempts to give 

 warning to all animals to flee from the approaching danger. 

 Another variety of the same family (Pluvianus armatu of 

 Burchell) is called " setula-tsipi," or hammering-iron, from 

 the metallic ring of its alarm-note, " tinc-tinc-tinc." It has a 

 sharp spur on its shoulder, much like that on the heel of a 



* The Hagidash, Latham ; or Tantalus capensis of Lich. 



