394 
CLEMATIS. — CRYPTOGAMIC PLANTS. 
27, 28 Oct. 
It is reckoned the best of the winged game in the country ; not only 
on account of its size, but because it is always found to abound in fat. 
The meat of it is not unlike that of a turkey, but is certainly superior, 
as possessing the flavor of game.* 
I took a walk through the grove till I came to a part lower 
down the stream, where 1 obtained an unobstructed view of the first 
reach of the Black River, by climbing up one of the tallest trees. It 
was, however, with some difficulty that I could disentangle myself 
from a species of Clematis which, just hereabouts, grows to their very 
summits, and smothers them with its flowers and foliage ; very much 
in the same manner as the common English species called ' Traveller's 
Joy', which, in Europe, indicates a chalky substratum. And it is 
remarkable, that this African plant, which much resembles it in habit 
and general appearance, is also an indication of a calcareous quality 
in the soil, f 
The climate on the banks of the Gariep, and its branches, is at 
all seasons very sensibly warmer than that of the suri'ounding 
country. The heat at this station had daily increased since we 
arrived : on the 26th it was 94° : this day 98° ; and on the following 
101°. (30°-6. K— 38"-3. C.) 
2Sth. Having completed my intended observations, and made 
* Here I added to my ornithological collection — 
Upupa Epops, or common Hoopoe, scarcely differing from our English bird. 
Turdus bicolor. Gm. Sys. Nat. It is called Witgat Spreww in the Cape Colony. 
Falco musicus. Le Faticon chanteur, Le Vaill. Ois. d'Afr, pi. 27. 
This species of Falcon appears to inhabit the whole of Southern Africa, as it has 
since been found amongst a small collection made by the unfortunate expedition lately 
sent to explore the river Zaire. 
f Galium verum, or a plant exceedingly like it, grows in plenty on the bank of the 
river, in grassy places. This is certainly indigenous to the Gariep, and the country 
beyond. 
The outward appearance of another plant so completely deceived me at the moment 
of gathering it, that I believed I had collected a species of ^/lalictrum. It was not 
in flower, but probably belongs to some of the umbelliferous genera. 
Fungi, as well as Lichens and Mosses, are so very rarely to be met with in the 
interior of Southern Africa, that, of the Fungi, the first which had been seen on the 
journey, was found at this place. 
