SOUTHERN AFRICA. 247 
fpecies of ar£lotis, othonna^ cineraria^ cifl^i^t calendula^ athanajia, 
tanecetum^ fejiecioy and gnaphallum^ all of them, at this time, in 
the height of their bloom. 
But that which moftly difcriminated the Sneuwberg from 
other parts of the country, was the total want of fhrubbery. 
For miles together thefe elevated plains produced not a ftick. 
We pafTed one kloof between two hills, in which flood about a 
dozen fmall mimofas j and nothing could more ftrongly have 
marked the fcarcity of bufhes than the prodigious quantity of 
nefts that thefe contained, made by different fpecies of fmall 
birds, chiefly fparrows, finches, and grofsbeaks. They were 
fcattered over the branches as thickly as thofe of crows in a 
rookery ; and, what was ftill more remarkable, there flood in 
the fame bufh, with fix or eight others, the neft of a hawk, 
containing two white eggs with fmall crimfon fpecks. The 
bird, on the wing, appeared to be brown and white, and was 
named by the peafantry the white falcon. The nefls of the 
fmall birds were moftly hedged round with thorns, and, like 
that of the magpie, had a cover built over them, and they were 
all entered through tubes or fmall holes* 
It is a remarkable fa£l that there are many perfons in Sneuw- 
berg who have never feen a tree. Even the commandant, 
who for many years had traverfed the whole country to the 
northward in expeditions againft the Bosjefmans, had never 
feen a wood till he came with us, on the prefent journey, into 
the KalFer country. Very few of the houfes have a ftick of 
any fort ftanding near them. The violent winds, more than 
the 
