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 I SOUTH AFRICA 
 
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 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, 
 SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
Plate I. 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
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 0) 
 
 0) 
 
 
 
 
THE FISH RIVER BUSH 
 
 SOUTH AFRICA 
 
 AND ITS 
 
 WILD ANIMALS 
 
 BY 
 
 W. T. BLACK, M.R.C.S., L.S.A., 
 
 ASSISTANT-SURGEON, ARMY MEDICAL STAFF. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH FIVE FULL PAGE PLATES 
 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON 
 
 YOUNG J. PENTLAN D 
 
 I 9 o I 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following articles on the Fish Eiver Busli of the Cape 
 Colony are taken from the " Edinburgh New Philosopliical 
 Journal" of July and October 1853, and Vol. 54, Xo. 107, to 
 which thev were contributed, when the Author was stationed 
 there during the Calire Wars, from personal observation on 
 patrol with the troops. 
 
 Considerable alteration will no doubt have taken place in 
 the condition of nature since then, owing to colonisation and 
 cultivation of tlie primeval wilderness then existing. Farming 
 and agriculture will have invaded the valleys and their flats, 
 and established dwellings and tillage. The wild animals, as 
 Elephants and Hippopotami, Tigers and Hyaenas, Koodoos and 
 Bush Buck, will have disappeared by now, but most of the lUrds 
 may still remain denizens of the wooda. 
 
 The sketches were taken at the time, 1848 and 1852, on the 
 spot, and represent the aspect of nature as then existing, but 
 probably not at the present time. 
 
 Eeferences are inserted to plates in Capt. Harris' "Wild 
 Animals," 1840, and "Wild Sports," 1852, in Southern Africa, 
 with illustrations of the above notes. 
 
Afar in the desert I love to ride, 
 
 With the silent Bushboy alone by my side. 
 Away, away, from the dwellings of men. 
 
 By the wild deer's haunt and buffalo's glen ; 
 By Yalle3^s remote where the oribi plays. 
 
 Where the gnu, the gazelle and the hartebeest graze. 
 And the koodoo and eland unhunted recline ; 
 
 By the skirts of grey forests, o'erhung with green vine, 
 Where the elephant browses at peace in his wood, 
 
 And the river horse gambols unscared in the flood, 
 And the mighty rhinoceros wallows at w^ll 
 
 In the vley where the wild ass is drinking his fill. 
 
 Pringle^s verf^es, Cape Wilderness, 182Jf. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Topography and Forestry, ------ 9 
 
 Fish River Course, -------- 10 
 
 Absence of vV ater, - - - - - - - - ^ -■ 
 
 Kloofs and Ridoes, - - - - - - - ~ I'* 
 
 Wild Animals, 
 Trees and Plants, 
 Birds, 
 
 CHAPTER TI. 
 
 Horses, Hares, 
 Rock Rabbits, 
 
 16 
 
 18 
 20 
 
 Herbivora, ------"'" 
 
 Buffalo, Koodoo, -------- 
 
 Bushbuck, --------- 
 
 DUI-KER, GrIESBUCK, -----"" 
 
 Steenbuck, Wild Pig, ...---- 31 
 
 23 
 23 
 26 
 30 
 
 33 
 36 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Carnivora, - - - - - - - - 37 
 
 Leopards, _._-._--- 37 
 
 Wild Cats, Baboons, . - _ _ . _ 39 
 
 Hyaenas, - - - - - 40 
 
 Jackals, ._---.---- 41 
 
 Ratels, Mousehund, -------- 43 
 
 Porcupines, Wild Dogs, ------- 44 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Aardvark, - ------ 47 
 
 Tongue, ------ - _ _ _ 47 
 
 Habits, Hunting, -------- 52 
 
 Dimensions, _.---.--- 53 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Plate I. Fish River at Kaffir Drift. 
 II. Mouth of Fish River. - 
 III. Fort Brown and Bridge. 
 
 5J 
 
 ?5 
 
 5J 
 
 55 
 
 IV. Fort Alfred, near Fish River Mouth. 
 V. Kat River Valley. . - _ . 
 
 Frontispiece. 
 20 
 34 
 42 
 47 
 
THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 TOPOGEAPHY AND FORESTRY. 
 
 COURSE OF FISH PJVEE — ABSENCE OF WATER — KLOOFS AND 
 RIDGES — WILD ANIMALS — TREES AND PLANTS — BIRDS. 
 
 The Great Fish River Bush would be better understood if 
 deuoiuinated Jungle, according to Indian nomenclature, the 
 meaning of which is well appreciated, from the numerous de- 
 scriptions we possess of that country. The word Bush is, as it 
 were, conventional only in this colony ; and what is generally taken 
 as its meaning at home is inapplicable here. A sheep refers to 
 a single member of the sheep, so a bush signifies a part of the 
 Bush. The extent of the Colonial Bush cannot be estimated l)y 
 any conception of one who is a stranger to its features. A small 
 clump of bush gives one no criterion to judge of its interminable 
 extent, just as finity can give almost no conception of infinity. 
 
 A distinguished military officer, at the commencement of 
 the 1835 war, even on his arrival at Graham's Town, could not 
 understand the meaning of the report, that " the Caffres were 
 in the Fish River Bush," and expressed himself in very strong 
 terms of disbelief that a nation of savages could be concealed in 
 it so as to defy observation, and render themselves nearly 
 impregnable in it. It was only on viewing the expansive scene 
 presented of the Bush country from Driver's Hill on the road 
 to Fort Peddie, that he began to have some idea of the difficulties 
 attendant on a warfare with a people possessing such a natural 
 
lo THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 fastness. He at first exclaimed, when he was told that was the 
 Bush he disbelieved in, " It cannot be ; what, all that greenish 
 covering of the hills and valleys bush ! no, it must be only 
 grass." Such was the deception given of its nature by distance. 
 Conviction to the full extent, however, overcame him on 
 descending into the Fish Eiver Valley ; and on traversing for 
 miles through its tangled thickets, his ideas of the obstacles he 
 had to contend with in the war underwent, of course, con- 
 siderable modification. 
 
 The Great Fish River Bush begins principally about Junction 
 Drift, w^here the Little Fish Eiver enters, and covers the valley 
 thence to the sea. It traverses all the numerous tributary 
 valleys that pass into the Great Valley, as those of the Botha's 
 Eiver, Kowie, Ecca Eiver, and Blaauwe Kran's Eiver, Sheshago, 
 Clusie, and Kap Eivers, to a certain distance up the course of 
 the Koonap Eiver, and a considerable way up the Kat Eiver, 
 nearly as far as Howse's Post. To the south-west, it may be 
 said to cover a large triangle of country — formed by the Fish 
 Eiver, north and east, and the course of the Kap Eiver, along 
 the summit of Governor's Kop, Botha's Hills, and the Fish Eiver 
 Berg on the south-west. 
 
 The Kat Eiver Bush to the north is connected with the Great 
 Fish Eiver Bush, lying east of Graham's Town, which last covers 
 the passage of Caffre commandoes into Lower Albany and 
 Oliphant's Hoeck. About Junction Drift it becomes connected 
 with the Bushman's Eiver Bush and the fastnesses of the 
 Zuureberg, across the Commadaga — another covered way for 
 Caffres into the Uitenhage district. Both these routes have been 
 much used by Caffres this war, and act the part of covered ways 
 and sally-ports from the citadel of the Great Fish Eiver Bush. 
 
 By various large kloofs east between Trumpeter's and 
 Victoria Post, as Foonah's and Doda's Kloofs, it becomes con- 
 nected with the Keiskamma Bush, of similar character, extend- 
 ing from Kayser's Station to the mouth of that river, and these 
 connections establish the covered transit for Caffres from 
 
TOPO GRA PHY AND FORE ST R V. 1 1 
 
 Caffraria into the great rendezvous of the Fish Pdver Bush. 
 This Bush, last war, was the scene of the capture of a train of 
 forty Government waggons on the Trumpeter's Hill road ; and 
 this war, it lodged two large camps of Caffres and rebel 
 Hottentots, several thousands strong, in the bushy kloofs east 
 of the river, in the neighbourhood of Committee's Drift, from 
 whence issued frequent numerous commandoes to devastate the 
 colony. The attack and dispersion of these, in August and 
 September 1851, occasioned protracted operations, harassing 
 work, and great loss of life amongst the troops. 
 
 The Ecca Bush was the scene of the exploits of the notorious 
 rebel Hottentot, Jan Pockbaas, who waylaid and murdered 
 many of our men, and plundered several waggons. The Koonap 
 Hill road through the Bush, near the Koonap Post, has also 
 witnessed roadside robbery and slaughter, and June last (1852), 
 the capture and plunder of a train of ammunition waggons, with 
 other military stores, and the loss of a considerable number of 
 the escort of Eoyal Sappers. Various fighting affairs in the 
 neighbourhood of Fort Brown, which is in the centre of a large 
 bushy country, also attest the advantage taken of this cover 
 by the enemy. 
 
 The course of the Fish Jiiver, after leaving Somerset, is one 
 of the most tortuous in the whole colony, and doubles upon 
 itself so frequently, as to completely puzzle a stranger to esti- 
 mate its true course at first sight. The bends it takes amongst 
 the hills may be, some of them, four miles at right angles to the 
 course ; and if following the stream, increasing its length by 
 about ten miles. The river runs in a vast vallei/, bounded by 
 grass-covered hills, which are in numerous places from twelve 
 to sixteen miles or more apart, and it is this entire valley that 
 is covered with bush. 
 
 The boundaries of that part running due east, are the Fish 
 Eiver Berg and Botha's Hill on the south, and the Fish Pviver 
 Eand or Caffre Berg on the north. Those of the valley running 
 southerly are formed more by its profundity than by the rise of 
 
12 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 the neighbouring country. The Bush country above the Kat 
 Eiver junction is habitable for sheep-farmers during peace time, 
 but totally abandoned from its untenableness during the war. 
 That part below has seldom been occupied at all, except by the 
 military posts here and there. 
 
 The Fish Eiver Valley in ordinary seasons is almost entirely 
 destitute of any water, except what the river itself contains, so 
 that the soil is universally very dry, and, in consequence, almost 
 totally unfit for agricultural purposes. In fact, no good soil of 
 any depth exists, except in the flats along the margin of the 
 river, and that is of a sandy, reddish clay. The rest of the 
 ground is of a stony, sandy character, the surface-stratum in 
 large areas composed of a dark, loose, broken- up, clayey slate, 
 under which lies the substratum of hard quartzose sandstone, 
 which forms in horizontal layers the perpendicular faces of the 
 krantzes. Some undulating parts of the valley have ground of 
 loose sandstone rock, with clay, and are of a yellowish colour in 
 appearance. 
 
 Some few small tributary streams have their channels 
 through the valley to the river, rising in the neighbouring high 
 country ; but the water, though running only a few miles from 
 its sources, soon loses itself by evaporation, or sinking, ere it 
 traverses the confines of the great valley, or else begins to 
 stagnate in pools which, in dry seasons, contain brackish water. 
 Such is the case with the Botha's Eiver, the Kingo, and nearly 
 all the others. These streams, however, in a very rainy season, 
 become torrents, and rush with impetuous velocity over their 
 stony bottoms, coloured white with mud and debris ; but this 
 surface water soon expends itself, the fountains not being 
 strong. 
 
 The Fish Eiver itself is often stagnant, and sometimes stink- 
 ing with animal refuse and vegetable remains, in long dry 
 seasons, especially about March or October. The heavy rains 
 in the upper country, usually falling about April and December, 
 bring down enormous volumes of water, coloured with the red 
 
TOPOGRAPHY AND FORESTR Y. 13 
 
 clay washed from its banks, and as thick nearly as mud itself, 
 so that even horses and cattle will scarcely drink it. Its rise 
 on these yearly occasions amounts to from 15 to 30 feet, in 
 particular places flooding over its deep clayey banks, and 
 carrying down a great quantity of bush and dead timber torn 
 away from its banks. 
 
 On such occasions the sea at its mouth is tinged and dirtied 
 reddish for miles out and on each side along the coast, and the 
 floated debris is deposited in banks along the contiguous beach. 
 The rise of the river often takes place suddenly in a volume of 
 water, which presents an elevation above the level in front ; and 
 persons disappointed of a passage across some drift now flooded, 
 may by hard riding overtake the stream, and cross at a drift 
 lower down. 
 
 These drifts or fords are the intervening shallow places in 
 the deep bed of the river, formed by banks or rocks between the 
 several pools into which the stream is divided, when at a low 
 standard, and are used by the farmers and cattle to pass from 
 one part of the country to another. Passages across can be 
 made at these spots, even when tiie river is up to the saddle- 
 flaps, as the bed of the river is there known and safe. No 
 roads lead to these drifts, which are only known to frequenters 
 of the country, and in the path leading through the bush to the 
 brink of the river, the bush is so high that in many places one 
 may ride under the branches, but more frequently the rider 
 nmst dismount and lead his horse through. In wet seasons 
 vUys or ponds of water may be found here and there in the 
 flatter parts of the valley, or on the level ground on the sunnnit 
 of the eminences, but these soon become dried up in the course 
 of a long drought. 
 
 During these dry seasons the game of the larger kind repair 
 to the banks of the river for water, and its margins are every- 
 where imprinted with the spoor of numbers of animals of 
 various descriptions, as bucks, wild pigs, koodoos, aardvarks, 
 etc., and here the sportsman may, by patiently waiting in the 
 
14 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 evenings and mornings, have a chance of surprising and shooting 
 some of these game, taking his station among the bushes on the 
 opposite side of the river to where he observes the recent foot- 
 prints. 
 
 It is a circumstance of astonishment that such vast areas of 
 land should support such quantities of bush without any visible 
 signs of running water anywhere, which one would also imagine 
 necessary for its numerous animate inhabitants. Deep kloofs 
 and shady ravines are in numbers everywhere without this 
 source of vegetation and alleviation of thirst, and where one 
 would expect a cool rill of water to be springing out to moisten 
 the arid ground. The succulent nature of some of the vegeta- 
 tion of the bush is said to supply this deficiency to some extent 
 to its herbivorous frequenters. 
 
 The valkij country, when viewed from the ridge of its 
 boundaries, presents a chaos of hills, kloofs, and krantzes, with 
 intervening patches of more level ground, and strikes one with 
 something like a feeling of silent sublimity at its deserted 
 repose, its sombre dark green or brownish green appearance, 
 according to the season, its interminable extent, and the 
 absence of any cultivated spot of ground, or even of a 
 
 house. 
 
 As a part of the whole, the valley of the Ecca, looking east 
 from a favourable height, presents a gradually diverging valley 
 entirely covered with bush, some eight or ten miles long by six 
 broad, at the termination of the view, which is closed in by the 
 bushy hills and kloofs of the east side of the Fish River Valley 
 at Committee's Drift. 
 
 Forming the south boundary of the valley is a range of 
 disrupted bushy hills, with intervening deep and rugged kloofs 
 and ravines, which constituted the retreat of Jan Pockbaas and 
 his rebel banditti. The nortli side of the valley is filled up by 
 the high lands about the Grass-Kop, the sides of which are 
 deeply broken by dark kloofs and bushy ridges. In the extreme 
 distance at the left, and situated on the banks of the Great Fish 
 
TOPOGRAPHY AND FORESTRY. 15 
 
 Eiver, may be discerned a yellow spot, Committee's Post, now 
 untenanted since the last war. 
 
 Some undefined feelings become impressed from the reflec- 
 tion, that within these recesses hordes of savages have lived, 
 and that underneath the foliage, impenetrable and insensible to 
 the burning rays of a noonday sun, and unmoved by a breath of 
 air, repose the leopard in his lair, and the poisonous snake in 
 his coil, and that once stalked through it the stately elephant 
 and the headstrong rhinoceros. One can scarcely survey it as 
 you would a battle-field, and point out such and such spots as 
 marked by hairbreadth escapes from, and conflicts with, savage 
 foes, as such events here all transpire under the surface of this 
 gloomy mantle, the personification of lifeless perennial repose. 
 One cannot survey it as you would a map, and point out the 
 streams, the roads, the boundaries of property, and the habita- 
 tions of men ; all these, if they exist at all, are shrouded from 
 view by the same impenetrable winding-sheet, which conceals 
 the action of the savage passions of men and brutes, as well as 
 any signs of the former's industrial activity. 
 
 Unseen by the glaring sun has the savage butchered the 
 unwary farmer, or tortured his captive comrade to death ; 
 unseen have his waggons been captured and plundered ; and 
 daylight in vain essayed to discern the perhaps drunken orgies 
 of the horrid crew revelling in wanton destruction and cruelty. 
 The spectator from a height hears the reports of fire-arms, at 
 first sharp, and sees the eddies of blue vaporous smoke rising- 
 out of the Bush ; both are now gradually dying away, and savage 
 yells and the growling of dogs are taking their place ; not a leaf 
 moves, not a living creature to be seen, and soon these signs of 
 animate existence fail to be appreciated ; and yet this is all that 
 a spectator could record of the surprise and slaughter of a 
 company of British soldiers by the Caffres in the Committee's 
 Kloofs in the first September of the war (1851). Underneath 
 these impassive leaves, and entangled amidst impenetrable 
 thickets, the dismayed soldiers fell rapid victims to the savage 
 
i6 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA, 
 
 barbarity of the Caffres and the brutal ferocity of the blood- 
 hound (not strictly so, but a large kind of Caffre dog). There, 
 no friendly aid, if near, could have discerned the deadly struggle 
 or the torturing death, and have carried assistance or sought 
 revenge. The darkness of night cannot afford a deeper screen 
 for deeds of blood than the tangled thickets and dense foliage 
 of the Fish Eiver Bush. 
 
 As the soldier or frontier colonist can tell you of the 
 vicissitudes of human life that have transpired in its obscurities, 
 so the hunter can relate his incidents of sport carried on in its 
 recesses. He can call up to mind the herds of elephants that 
 once quietly browsed amidst the thickets in yonder valley ; can 
 show you the paths they had formed by their ponderous power, 
 which led from the heights to tlie cool vley or pool of water 
 in the still bed of the stream ; can recall to you the huge bulk 
 of the rhinoceros, or of the sea-cow, reposing in listlessness in the 
 heat of the day on the shady side of the kloof, and point out to 
 you the path he took, and his heavy footprints in the mud on 
 the banks of the Fish Eiver, when he repaired to the stagnant 
 water of the stream for his drink or his bath. 
 
 He can show you where the ostriches {Stridhio) used in former 
 years to pick the grass in the open glades on that flat spot of 
 ground below. He can show you the hill range in the distance, 
 where the koodoo came out to graze in the morning, and can take 
 you on his track through the kloof and the bush to the bank of the 
 river, where he had drunk in the evening. He can tell you of 
 the krantz to wliich he followed the leopard by his spoor from 
 his sheep-kraaL whither the brute had carried a ewe ; and 
 recount to you the desperate struggle that resulted between his 
 dogs and the despoiler, ere he fell to the stroke of the knife or 
 the bullet of his roer. He can tell you of the hand-to-hand 
 conflict that took place in yonder dark kloof between his com- 
 rade and a bush tiger, in which his friend was saved by timely 
 assistance, but to die in a week after of his lacerated wounds. 
 
 The bush covering to this part of the country does not add 
 
TOPOGRAPHY AND FORESTR V. 1 7 
 
 variety of scenery to the confused assemblage of hills, valleys, 
 flats, and krantzes, as it covers over all inequalities of ground 
 with a sameness of appearance, and makes almost every kloof 
 and koppie exactly resemble each other except in size. Its 
 impenetrability is so great that no person is al)le to make any 
 way through it, except through passages, made formerly Ijy the 
 gigantic elephant, which are w^ell adapted for bridle-paths, and 
 were the only roads existing in an early state of the colony. 
 Smaller footpaths, made by the present denizens of its cover, as 
 the larger bucks, etc., are also available means of access to the 
 interior of its recesses. 
 
 The knowledge of these various elephant-paths forms the 
 resource of the marauding Caffre, by which he can effect a 
 secure escape from the pursuit of those unacquainted with the 
 locality into the far depths of the jungle, and by which he can 
 readily drive the plundei-ed colonial cattle, througli an appar- 
 ently impenetrable country, into places of concealment in the 
 stupendous kloofs that intersect the hilly regions of the bush 
 belt. Even should the pursuer be close on the heels of his 
 enemy, and the guidance of the spoor should fail in such a dry 
 country, no means could enable him to detect cattle concealed 
 in the kloof he looks down into except that by their lowing. 
 Should he reach them, and capture them, he will doubtless find 
 the plunderers missing, and nowhere to be seen ; yet the Caffres, 
 and numerous too, mav still be coucealed in the same kloof, 
 secure from observation, while they are aided by the black 
 colour of their skins affording no contrast to the gloom of the 
 recesses they have taken refuge in. 
 
 The only use of the more accessible parts of this impractic- 
 able country is the more open and level parts, constituting fine 
 pasturage for sheep — the bushes affording them abundance of 
 food, even should the grass fail in dry seasons, but then the 
 flavour of the mutton distinctly alters, though not by any 
 means to a disagreeable taste. Whether fossil coal will ever be 
 discovered in sufficiently large beds in the country, as to make 
 
 B 
 
1 8 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 it available for general use as fuel, remains to be seen ; but no 
 fear need be entertained of the failure of firewood, for which the 
 majority of this bush is only serviceable, as we have here a 
 living coal-field unmerged as yet by a deluge. 
 
 The bush is denser and more tree-like in the kloofs, and 
 opener on the more level and elevated grounds, where the 
 koodoo and tlie buck graze, and the wdld pig ploughs the ground 
 for its food, as the open glades abound after rains with abund- 
 ance of sweet grass, and other such fresh vegetable productions. 
 This jungle is never seen to have grown, either more extended 
 or higher, in the memory of the inhabitants of this country; 
 and no encroachments are made on it, except when grass fires 
 on the hills burn away its borders, which remain for a long 
 time scarred and black. 
 
 It is composed of numerous kinds of plants, shrubs, and 
 trees, mostly partaking of the thorny prickly character (Acacia), 
 entangled by their own branches, and by various creepers 
 {Pelcvrgoniuiii), and rendered more impassable by thick under- 
 w^ood. Few trees, however, are of such a size or of such a kind, 
 as to furnish good timber, which is chiefly procured, for the use 
 of the eastern districts, from the forest kloofs of the Kat Eiver 
 district, and those of the Cowie forest in the Mancazana and 
 Kaja districts, but a good proportion of building timber, as 
 deals, is imported from England. 
 
 Stunted Euphorbias grow in abundance in every direction, 
 as well in the kloofs as on the koppies and flats, and the stately 
 giant Candelabra Euphorbia rears its hydra-headed form above 
 its neighbours in the deep hollows, or on the sides of the kloofs 
 — the refuge for the hunted baboon, or the perch for the far- 
 sighted aasvogel ( Vidtur) or hawk (Aquila). Abundance of milky 
 juice distils from incisions in its trunk, or the rupture of a branch 
 from the stem, which very probably would furnish india-rubber 
 or caoutchouc, if the proper means w^ere taken to obtain it, and 
 if successful, the material would be in abundance. 
 
 The sweet-scented jasmine (t/«SHit7iW7?i) entwines and decorates, 
 
TOPOGRAPHY AND FORESTRY, 19 
 
 with rLumberless white flowers, the different shrubs and trees, 
 whence the wild bee gathers its honey. Numerous bulb-like 
 Amaryllides and Narcissus shoot up their leaves, and single- 
 stemmed crown of flowers, after rains in the spring, from the arid 
 ground of the lower parts of the valley. The Speckboom {Pos- 
 tidacaria) abundantly relieves the monotonous evergreen colour of 
 the bush, with its lilac clustered flowers, and its succulent sub- 
 acid gummy leaves, formerly afforded the principal food for the 
 elephant, and are now partaken of by the thirsty traveller with 
 relish, and often cooked by the native inhabitants into a kind 
 of stew. 
 
 The tops and sides of the koppies and ridges are garrisoned 
 by stumpy aloes, with their thin bristling head of leaves, often 
 giving the appearance of a picket or party of Caffres to patrols 
 traversing the country during war time. The prickly Acacia 
 covers the level lands, throwing out, when its yellow clustered 
 flowers are in bloom, a delicious fragrance. The spear-shaped 
 but scentless flowers of the Strelitzia may be seen shooting up 
 amidst their dark green elongated leaves, enlivening with their 
 bright colours the sombre hue of the sides and heads of the kloofs. 
 
 The Kiver Bush is of a different nature to that covering the 
 rest of the country, and marks the course of the stream dis- 
 tinctly to the spectator from some height overlooking the 
 valley ; it is greener and loftier, and completely overhangs the 
 water in most places, so that one scarcely can obtain a view of 
 the stream itself till after passing through to the back of the 
 river. Coarse willow trees (Salix) constitute its largest bush, 
 which is tenanted by numerous and various kinds of small birds, 
 some remarkable for their shape, others for the beauty of their 
 plumage ; some few have notes, but the majority are destitute 
 of any. 
 
 The yellow and green finks (Ploceus) may be seen disporting 
 in multitudes amongst its branches, and entering every now and 
 then into their grass-woven nests, hanging from the extreme 
 twigs of the waving willow, over the surface of a still pool of 
 
20 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA, 
 
 the river. Clumps of the prickly pear, with their leaf-like 
 succulent branches, studded with golden yellow flowers, into 
 the cups of which the pretty sugarbichi {Nedarinia) may be 
 seen dipping his slender subulate beak, grow here and there 
 luxuriantly, the fruit affording rich food for the wild pigs, and 
 giving the name of Yyge Kraal to a locality of the Fish Eiver. 
 
 The traveller through this jungle may afar witness the 
 heavy-winged vultures {Neophron) gathering from ditferent 
 quarters of the sky, attracted by the carcase of a trek-ox that has 
 been knocked up and died on the road, on which some are already 
 eagerly gorging themselves, having the eyes picked out, and they 
 are commencing at the entrails. At another quarter in the valley, 
 flying in circles in the air, may be seen a crowd of eager, long- 
 sighted aasvogels ( Vultur ercno2)ierus), scared from the carcase 
 of a sheep by the arrival of a troop of wild dogs {Lycaon) to 
 snatch up the excavated remains. 
 
 From that lofty time-worn krantze overhanging the river, may 
 be heard the chattering of the huge ungainly baboon {Cynoceph- 
 alus), especially in the evenings— the noise elevating itself now 
 and then in united chorus,, or interrupted by discordant shrieks, 
 perhaps indicating the neighbourhood of the stealthy tiger, or 
 his seizure of some unlucky member of the community for his 
 evening's repast. The saw-filing cry of the guinea-fowl (Numida) 
 may be heard echoing from the bushy krantze near the river in 
 the evenings, when the flock are collecting to roost The crowing 
 concert of tlie black pheasants {Francoliivus) arises from the bushy 
 thickets along the Fish Pdver here and there, as each covey wel- 
 comes the rising sun and the steaming dew. The pretty notes of 
 the michi and diedriek {Ghalcites) further enliven the growing 
 day, and the hoopoe's voice {Upupa), and the cooing of the ring- 
 dove (Columha), may be distinguished from the depths of some 
 kloof or river thicket. 
 
 That white smoky line advancing along the undulations of the 
 bush -covered valley, like the progressing margin of a grass fire, 
 is a squadron of winged locusts (Acrydium) in line, the hindmost 
 
Plate II. 
 
 
TOPOGRAPHY AND FORESTRY. 21 
 
 of which are constantly flying over their comrades ahead, to take 
 up the unconsumed vegetation, while they leave behind them a 
 leafless desert. On nearer inspection, the bushes are seen com- 
 pletely covered by their brownish grey bodies, heaps of which 
 may be knocked off like snow-wreaths by the stroke of a stick, 
 while your horse may be seen with avidity clearing another bush 
 of its devastators. 
 
 The still moonlight nights bring one familiar with the lively 
 scream of flocks of the white and black plumaged plover 
 {Charadius) and the softer and more prolonged note of the 
 dickop (CEdicnemus), which seem to emerge from their daylight 
 concealment, and enjoy the security of searching for their food 
 by night. The prowling wolf notifies its proximity to the 
 sheep-kraal in rainy dark nights, by its lengthened hollow howl 
 awakening the dogs, which answer with their frequent bark. 
 In the season nearly every night, either on the road or at home, 
 the jackals may be heard raising a concert of shrill cries, in 
 answer to each other in the distant bush. 
 
 GAME SHOOTING. 
 
 The sportsman with companion will find ample occupation 
 in traversing the Eiver Bush and the open ridges and glades in 
 pursuit of the game birds that haunt them all along, as these 
 nmst be near their feeding grounds, for seed and water by the 
 banks. Sport of an interesting kind may be indulged in after 
 pheasants and guinea-fowl along the river thickets, and after 
 grey wing partridge {Frctncolinus) and quail (Coturnix) in the 
 open bush on the ridges, where they go to sun themselves, and 
 
 to feed. 
 
 Keen-nosed dogs, setters and pointers, are however necessary 
 to follow the birds through the tangle, and capture the wounded 
 and the fallen in the rough grass after shooting; and an 
 occasional shot may be got at a Geelbec duck {A7ias) as it flies 
 low along the bush lining the river banks, but its recovery is 
 very uncertain owing to the current and the sedges concealing it. 
 
2 2 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 The sport is not laborious, as there are no high hills to climb, 
 and there is plenty of shelter from the sun rays in the trees, 
 and your coolie or native ghillie follows after with the horses 
 and game bags. 
 
 Fire makes no deep impression on the everlasting verdure of 
 the bush ; and if a grass fire stretches to its margin, it merely 
 consumes the little at its edge that is of a more open character, 
 but never penetrates into the recesses of a kloof. In every 
 respect there seems the character of eternity implanted on it. 
 No one knows how, or where, or when, it began to grow ; no 
 one has witnessed its increase in any way, no one its decay ; no 
 fall of the leaf takes place to any appreciable extent, the foliage 
 only undergoing in the winter season a brownish shade of colour. 
 Inconsumable by fire, waveless by the wind, unharmed by the 
 torrents, unchangeable in every vicissitude of season, having 
 neither youth nor age imprinted on it, it partakes more of the 
 character of a stratum of the surface of the earth than anything 
 proper to organic life. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 THE HERBIVOEA. 
 
 BUFFALO — KOODOO — BUSHBUCK — DUI-KEK — GKIESBUCK — 8TEEX- 
 
 * 
 
 BUCK — WILD PIG — HORSES — HARES — ROCK RABBITS. 
 
 The Elephant and Rhinoceros have years ago left the retreats of 
 the Eish Eiver Bush. The present Colonel Armstrong, Cape 
 Mounted Rifles, recollects, when as a subaltern stationed at Fort 
 Brown, of passing through a herd of elephants on the Koonap 
 Hill; and it was the common practice for the men of the 
 detachment there in his time to hunt them on the Committee's 
 Flats in the valley of the Ecca. A solitary sea-cow, or Hi2:)po- 
 potcimus, here and there, still lingers in the Fish Eiver, below 
 Trumpeter's Drift, and there still remain several of them in the 
 Keiskamma Eiver. 
 
 The Buffalo {Biihalus Cciffer) still haunts, though in few 
 numbers, the bushy kloofs and sides of the hills between the 
 Grass-Kop and Committee's and Double Drift, and one or two 
 have been killed in that neighbourhood, since the last war, by 
 some Boers living between the two posts. They are hunted with 
 dogs, which bring them to bay, so as to afford a good shot behind 
 the shoulder, or about the ear. The forehead is impenetrable, 
 the brain being there protected by an enormous thickness of 
 bone, forming the standing for the horns. They are excessively 
 savage when wounded, and sometimes they evince a cunning 
 which will prompt them to feign death, so as to delude the 
 unwary to venture too near, when the infuriated brute sunnnons 
 up his strength, and rushes on his adversary, to his almost 
 certain destruction. 
 
 The fawn-coloured Koodoo (Anteloioe Strejnsceros), with its 
 
24 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 spiral-twisted horns — absent in the female, — one of the hand- 
 somest of the large bucks, may be observed in small herds, or 
 solitary, about the Fish Eiver Eand, where they graze in the 
 open glade, on the summit of that range, but their refuge is in 
 the bushy kloofs of the Kinga. Their spoor, horse-shoe shaped, 
 and with the cloven mark in its axis, may often be seen leading 
 from thence to the banks of the Fish Eiver on one side, or the 
 Koonap on the other, in search of water ; though the gratifica- 
 tion of this appetite does not appear to be daily necessary in any 
 kinds of buck. They also frequent the country between Double 
 Drift and the Grass-Kop, and that eastward of the Fish Eiver, 
 and some have been seen up as far as Liewfontein, on the road 
 to Fort Beaufort. 
 
 They come out to feed in the early mornings and late even- 
 ings in the open spaces of the bush, and also browse on 
 particular kinds of delicate shrubs, while their spoor may be 
 seen covering the ground in such spots. During the heat of the 
 day, they lie down in the recesses and cool shade of some bushy 
 kloof, near where they had been feeding. In wet and cloudy 
 weather they are less shy, and, like most bucks, seem then to 
 dislike the shelter of the bush, it is said from the dripping of 
 the water through the foliage. In such weather the sportsman 
 can easily follow the spoor, and need not desist from his toil 
 during the day, as probably he may at length come upon the 
 animal oi herd feeding. In dry weather it is rather arduous 
 sport. Sometimes they may accidentally be discovered about 
 sunrise out feeding, and in such a case great caution must be 
 used in approaching chem, from their acute sense of smell and 
 hearing. 
 
 Its ear is large and lobed, and well adapted for detecting 
 the approach of danger, especially from windward. Various 
 covers of small bush, hillocks, ant-heaps, etc., may be employed 
 to obstruct their seeing your approach : and some people have 
 actually taken off' their shoes and crept on their hands and 
 knees to get within gunshot. Should the animal, however, get 
 
THE HERBJVORA, 25 
 
 alarmed, his bound is fine, clearing the bush to his own height, 
 and dashing down thus by repeated leaps, deep into the hollows 
 of some contiguous kloof, whence, being in a state of alarm, it 
 would be vain to follow him. 
 
 The Boer proceeds to hunt him otherwise, bj traversing the 
 country on horseback, till he finds a fresh spoor, which is 
 followed through every difficulty of ground and bush, at the 
 iniminent risk of the clothes of an unaccustomed stranger l)eing 
 torn into shreds by the prickly thorns of the shrubbery. When 
 the morning's spoor is traced, or the animal has been seen 
 unalarmed on entering a kloof, the dogs are fetched, and some 
 of the hunting party enter and station themselves about the 
 head of the kloof, while the dogs are led by another of the 
 party into the bottom, and are driven up so as to turn out the 
 animal, which Hies before them, and passes, perhaps, within 
 gunshot of some of the former party. 
 
 A well-known Boer was accustomed in this case to follow 
 on the spoor alone, being stripped to the skin, and carrying 
 merely his bandolier round his waist, and his gun in his hand, 
 with his tobacco-pipe, which he lit every now and then to 
 observe the wind set. Should it be with him, he rested till it 
 took a more advantageous direction, when he carried on the 
 track farther through the bush. As the breaking of a twig 
 might be heard by the wakeful animal, or the rustle of the 
 thorns on his clothes, he had stripped himself naked. So, 
 following on by cautious degrees, every now and then lighting 
 his pipe and ascertaining the course of the wind, he would at 
 last come right upon the koodoo, lying in repose in his cover in 
 the bush, and have ample leisure to take a fatal aim. 
 
 The flesh forms the richest venison of any of the bucks of 
 this part of the colony, and what is not required for immediate 
 use is cut into strips, hung up, and dried in the sun, forming 
 excellent biltung. The skin, as large and longer than an ox's, 
 is cleaned and pegged out on the ground to dry in the sun, and 
 is afterwards used for various farm purposes by the Boer, or 
 
26 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 sold,— chiefly being useful for vorslaghts, the lash of their 
 great waggon whips. Its value may be about £1 a skin, 
 which further makes excellent leather when dressed, etc., for 
 
 shoes. 
 
 The next largest buck frequenting this bush is the powerful 
 Bushbuck {Tragda'plmis, A. Syhatica), of a dark brown colour, 
 having black spiral horns with a ridge, the number of twists 
 corresponding to its age. It is further recognised by half-a- 
 dozen white spots on the hind quarters, and one on the cheek, 
 a short tail, white underneath. He wants the usual lachrymal 
 sinus, like the koodoo, the large lachrymal line of the Ijuck's 
 head here Ijeing quite Hat on its aspect to the cheek. The 
 female has no horns, like all those of that sex of the antelope 
 kind inhabiting the Fish Eiver Bush, and she is seldom seen. 
 The rump and mammary region are white. The male and 
 female of all the smaller bucks are distinguished in the country 
 as ram and ew^e, while in the koodoo and other larger ones they 
 are called bull and cow. Inguinal sacs are also possessed by 
 the male bushbuck. 
 
 It frequents the deepest and thickest kloofs and bush, and 
 is very shy, though extremely ferocious when wounded, and can 
 inllict serious wounds with its sharp-pointed horns. The 
 Hottentot or Boer, knowing the habitat of any animal, as they 
 are generally solitary, stations himself by dawn in some little 
 krantze or rock, under cover of a bush, overlooking a kloof, and 
 silently awaits the buck coming out to feed at sunrise at the 
 edge of the bush, in the open space or glade, and perchance may 
 obtain a view within gunshot. In very dry weather, they come 
 down from the higher kloofs, and live in the thick lofty bush 
 on the banks of the river, so that the water is nearer : and here 
 the spot they frequent on the banks may become known to the 
 hunter by the frequent spoor, which is lancet-shaped, and 
 marked with the cleft in its axis, which he takes advantage of 
 by stationing himself within proper range on the opposite bank, 
 and awaiting the buck's time of repairing to drink in the even- 
 
THE HERBIVORA. 27 
 
 ings. They may also be started by following a iiiorniiig's fresh 
 spoor to their cover in the bush, either with or witliont dogs ; 
 and an opportunity for a shot may be obtained as the Ijuck rises 
 and bounds off, which he does with remarkable power and speed, 
 clearing much over his own height. 
 
 A favourite plan of hunting bucks in Lower Albany, adopted 
 by the English farmers, where a kloof can be found separate 
 and surrounded by open country, is in stationing the party with 
 their guns around it at various distances, and sending in beaters 
 up from the bottom of the kloof to scare the game, which rush 
 out according to their number from the edge of the bush, and 
 afford fine practice. 
 
 A common plan adopted by the Hottentot in the shooting 
 
 of smaller bucks of all kinds, is in discovering an open spot of 
 
 ground which, from the spoor and quantity of fresh dung, he 
 
 judges is a favourite feeding ground, and excavating a hollow in 
 
 a close bush within range of this with his knife, wherein he 
 
 conceals himself before sunrise wdth his gun, ready on the 
 
 watch for a buck displaying himself in the open glade which he 
 
 commands. These coloured people are peculiarly expert in this 
 
 stealthy kind of sport, which skill their rebel brethren have 
 
 turned to a too fatal use in the war ; they otherwise will walk 
 
 cautiously over a favourable tract of bush country, where there 
 
 are clumps and open glades, and taking views every now and 
 
 then from behind different shelters, till they, by good fortune, 
 
 espy in the morning or evening some unwary buck out feeding 
 
 on the edge of a clump, and are almost certain to bring back 
 
 one or two on such favourable occasions. 
 
 A knowledge of the habitats of the various smaller bucks 
 can be readily acquired by observation of spoor and the presence 
 of their dung — their freshness, or otherwise, leading one to form 
 an opinion of the proximity of the game. During the day, 
 when they are lying down from the shelter of the sun, they 
 may be flushed by good dogs who understand them, when one 
 may get a chance of a shot, as they rush out of the bush and 
 
28 THE FJSH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 bound off ; but this mode of sport requires a great rapidity of 
 aim to be very successful, as their speed is very great. 
 
 Showery cloudy weather is the best to follow this sport ; 
 the bucks then leave the denser, cooler kloofs, and frequent the 
 more open bush for the fresh grass and other green food. The 
 breaking of a foreleg does not prevent the entire escape of a 
 wounded buck, but injury to a hinder limb cripples it much 
 more, though not to the extent but that probably a good dog 
 would be required to capture him. From the nature of this part 
 of the country, it is impossible to course them, and all common 
 dogs cannot attain the speed of the buck, nor are they able to 
 clear obstacles which the latter do by most astonishing bounds. 
 
 N'ext to the koodoo, perhaps bushbuck venison may be 
 reckoned as palatable as any ; but all these smaller bucks are 
 devoid of fatty materials, and the Hesh is very dry, so that to 
 render the meat quite acceptable, it requires to be dressed in 
 peculiar ways. The English farmers sometimes, when sport is 
 no object, and the mere procuring of the skins and flesh for sale 
 or consumption their aim, adopt a more wholesale method of 
 capturing the smaller bucks of all kinds, and one that requires 
 no expenditure of time. 
 
 The Eiver Bush is the most frequented resort of these 
 animals during dry seasons, and their resort in any favourable 
 numbers is easily ascertained by the quantity of spoor. Certain 
 narrower tracts of it are bushed in after the manner of a kraal- 
 fence, right across from the river bank to the outside edge of 
 the bush, say for eighty yards, except a single narrow opening 
 through which the bucks must pass when traversing the length 
 of the bush to or fro. At this spot a trap is set, a hole is first 
 dug, and a long spring of bush tree fixed in the ground close by, 
 to the upper end of wdiich is tied a riem or rope having a 
 running noose at the lower end, which is fixed by a small easily- 
 loosened stick, round the margin of the hole, the spring being 
 then bent down to its utmost. The opening of the hole is 
 covered by other smaller sticks, over which are placed loose 
 
THE HERBIVORA. 29 
 
 grass and rubbish to hide its artificial appearance. The Ijuck 
 in passing through puts his foot on the covering, which tlie 
 pressure bruises down, the noose is liberated, the leo- cau^dit 
 and up springs the bender, and so holds the animal in s})ite of 
 all his eDdeavours to escape till the poacher arrives. Tlie plan 
 is recommended from its not injuring the skin of the animal by 
 any wound, so that its market value is not lessened. 
 
 The CafiVes in this country sometimes use a nearly similar 
 method, bushing across the space of the river bush, leaving a 
 single opening where a deep hole is dug, in the bottom of whicli 
 is fixed an upright sharp-pointed stake, and the opening of the 
 liole is covered lightly with sticks and grass. The buck, instead 
 of being ginned, is here staked. The skins of all these smaller 
 bucks are valuable, being, when prepared with the panion, made 
 into carosses, bed-covers, carpets, etc., for use in the colony, and 
 further form very fine leather stuff' Their usual selling price 
 in the Graham's Town market is from one shilling to one 
 shilling and sixpence. 
 
 In all these smaller bucks the stomach has the four cavities 
 of the ruminant. The paunch contains a large quantity of 
 semifluid, half-digested vegetable matter, the reticulated cavity 
 the same, which in the manijjlus, however, is quite dry, pre- 
 paratory to the chymification effected in the true stomach. The 
 food in the fourth cavity is similar, but more liquefied than in 
 the first two cavities. The caecum is large, contains no formed 
 fasces, and the small intestine enters into it at right angles to 
 its axis by a small constricted opening, situated about three 
 inches from the cul-de-sac extremity. The colon is much nar- 
 rower than the caecum, and at its commencement performs two 
 complete circular folds in a separate plane of peritoneum, befcn-e 
 becomino; a movable free viscus in the abdominal cavitv. Tlie 
 spleen is not larger than a crown piece, fiat, and lies against the 
 left surface of the stomach. The pancreas is also small and 
 fiat in shape. The smallness of the former organ is pro- 
 bably commensurate with the large circulation of the intestinal 
 
30 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 tube, affording sufficient amount of portal blood for the liver, 
 and with t^is circulation being in these animals in a state of 
 aUnost constant activity, and thus affording a constant supply. 
 The periodical state of these matters in the carnivora may afford 
 greater ground for a larger supplementary organ to receive an 
 unrequired influx on the stomach and intestines, and sustain a 
 steady supply of materials for the liver to elaborate into bile for 
 an ensuing period. 
 
 The Diii-ker {Gephaloplms Maxwdli), so called from its 
 bounding mode of progression, is a species of antelope, and 
 rather numerous in the Fish Pdver Bush, where it inhabits the 
 darker-coloured ground covered with clumpy patches of bush. 
 Both its spoor and dung are peculiar from the others, and its 
 habitats consequently become known by these means. It has 
 beautiful shining dun-coloured hair, short erect horns, with 
 three or four annulations at the base, and is marked by a black 
 stripe on the forehead and nose, and an S-shaped streak beneath 
 each eve, indicatincr the situation of the orifice of the lachrymal 
 sinus. It has a short tail, white underneath. Its speed is very 
 great, in fact swifter than any other kind of the smaller bucks 
 of the colony, which is attained by its numerous bounds, each 
 clearing about thirty feet of level ground. As an object of mere 
 sport, it has very great chances in its favour for escape. Its 
 skin forms good carosses, and its capture for this object is 
 effected by the various means above detailed. 
 
 The Griesbuck or Griessteenbuck {Tragulus), rather smaller 
 than the dui-kei\ takes its colonial name from the reddish-grey 
 coloured skin. Its horns are short, straight, and smooth, and it 
 possesses no tail. Inguinal sac in the male, four teats in the 
 female, and a lachrymal sinus, are further characteristics of its 
 antelope species. It inhabits a part of the bush-belt where the 
 ground is sandstone and clayey, and of a colour apparently 
 assimilated to that of the fur. It is far inferior to the dui-ker 
 in speed, being apparently only gifted with running. Its skin 
 is scarcely so valuable as that of the dui-ker. 
 
THE HERBIVORA. 31 
 
 The Steenbuck or Blcekluck (Tragulus) is about the size of 
 the dui-ker, and frequents bush growing chiefly on sandy clay 
 ground. Its fur is of a shining reddish-yellow colour, the Ijclly 
 w^hite, and the mammary region bounded by a black border on 
 each side. It has two black stripes on the forehead aud one on 
 the nose. The horns are erect, short, and smooth, and there is 
 no tail. It partakes in a great measure of peculiarities proper 
 to the dui-ker and grieshuck. Lachrymal sinus also is present. 
 Its fur is less valuable tlian either of the other two, from the 
 coarse nature of the hair, and in consequence little employed 
 for caresses, but the skin makes as good leather as the others. 
 Its speed is intermediate between the two former, but its 
 appearance in a natural state is prettier than either. Pairs are 
 generally found together, or may be started by the dogs from 
 bushes not far separate ; in the totality they are not so 
 numerous as the other two. 
 
 The excretory orifice of the lachrymal sinus is single in the 
 griesbuck, and opens in a black spot beneath the eye on the 
 cheek. The buccal aspect of the lachrymal bones in this and 
 dui-ker and hleekhuck is hollowed for the reception of the black- 
 coloured lachrymal sinus, which appears to abound in dark 
 pigmentary matter like sepia, but the excreted Huid when seen 
 is colourless. This gland has no connection with the orbit 
 or eye, and its excretory ducts are single in the grieshuck and 
 hleekburk, but open by many pores in the S-shaped black stripe 
 on the cheek of the dui-ker. If any use is to be assigned to it 
 as possessed by these three species of antelopes, on what grounds 
 is it dispensed with in the bushbuck and koodoo, which inhabits 
 this bush-belt also ? It cannot be for any object connected 
 with the lubrication of the eyeball, as it is placed underneath 
 it, so that its anatomy throws no light apparently on its func- 
 tion. 
 
 The Wild Fig of the Fish Eiver Bush (♦S'^s Larvcdus and 
 Phascochmrus) is seen in two varieties, the larger of a dirty 
 white colour entirely, and possessing three excessively developed 
 
^2 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 o 
 
 cartilaginous tubercles on the face on each side, two nasal, in 
 appearance like horns, two orbital, and two buccal, which 
 probably serve as fenders from injury to the eyes, in its progress 
 through the thorny dense underwood. These prominences do 
 not exist in the sow, which has a smaller head, but is otherwise 
 similar to the boar. This variety goes by the appellation of 
 ivitkop amongst the Dutch farmers. The smaller variety, called 
 Toeivitkop, is of a dirty reddish -brown colour on the body and 
 limbs, but the hair of the head becomes grey in the older 
 individuals. The young of this kind have a general brown 
 colour, with two or three longitudinal reddish stripes on each 
 side extending from the head to the tail. 
 
 The nasal tuberculations seem only here to attain any size 
 in the male, and are entirely, as in the other variety, deficient 
 in the sow, whicli is also somewhat smaller than the male, but 
 otherwise similar in appearance. The ears in both are erect. 
 The distribution of the teeth in both varieties is as follows : 
 incisors 2/6, canines 1/1-1/1, molars 55/44 = 30. The up- 
 per canines rest on their sides, and, directed outwards, seem 
 merely for the purpose of keeping the two edges of their oppos- 
 ites in the lower jaw sharp by their grinding action, as their 
 fibres will act perpendicularly against those of the lower tusks 
 longitudinally. 
 
 These animals afford excellent sport during the day, when 
 the Boer hunts them with a pack containing a few strong 
 plucky dogs which have been accustomed to the sport. They 
 frequent the dense bush and thickets, seldom the Eiver Bush, 
 and during the day may be turned out of these retreats, where 
 they repose, by dogs knowing their scent. They then imme- 
 diately make off, and tn dithcult thick country give a long chase 
 to the pack, but in more open country are soon run into, as they 
 cannot keep up any lengthened speed, though rapid for short 
 distances. 
 
 When thev have taken to the dense bush the hunter waits, 
 listening from some overlooking spot to the bark of the dogs, 
 
 I 
 
THE HERBIVORA. 33 
 
 and hearing how matters are going on, till he becomes aware by 
 the sound that the pig is brought at Jength to l)ay, when he 
 then endeavours to G;et as best he can throui^h the bush, to tlie 
 assistance of his dogs, who would in a long contest most 
 probably lose some of their numbers. The best of tlie dogs, 
 when the pig is brought to bay, run up at once, and fasten upon 
 him by the ears, snout, lip, etc., the others assisting, and thus 
 hold him fast, and prevent him doing much mischief, till the 
 Boer's knife between his ribs or a bullet puts a termination to a 
 struggle, which, if not thus interfered with, most likely would 
 end in the defeat of the pack, and death of some of the dogs. 
 
 In every seizure, generally one or n:iore dogs get wounded by 
 the formidable tusks, and some are killed altogether, either by 
 tlie belly being ripped up, or the vessels of the neck in front of 
 the chest lacerated and pierced. Hesitating dogs are liable to 
 suffer most, as may be inferred. By moonlight the wild pigs 
 come out of their retreats, especially during and after rainy 
 weather, when the ground is soft, to feed on the roots, bulbs, 
 etc., which they fancy, and large pieces of ground may some- 
 times be seen ploughed up by them after a single night's 
 ranging. They may then be hunted very successfully, and 
 sometimes shot when discovered out alone feeding. The tlesh 
 of the young is fair pork, but not very fat, and the skins of the 
 older seem the only valuable part, of which the Boer makes his 
 veldschoons, or covers his saddle with. 
 
 The flesh of these pigs is most frequently allotted by the 
 Boer to feed his dogs, and is cut off the carcase on the spot, and 
 devoured by them raw. 
 
 The common standard of CaiM Horse remains the same, 
 thoucrh CTood blood has been infused into the race from other 
 parts ; yet the native-born progeny sometimes naturally decline 
 to the lower native standard — the horizontal or Y neck, the 
 straight perpendicular shoulder, and the heavy under jaw and 
 narrow chest. The same law would seem to occur in the Ox 
 and Sheep, the straight back and short horns soon, in a genera- 
 
 c 
 
34 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 tion or two, lapse into the hanging neck and hollow back, and 
 long ponderous horns, sometimes six or ten feet between the 
 tips; and the progeny of the well-bred woolled sheep, if let 
 alone, change the curly thick-set coat for one hairy and shaggy 
 and thin, and the small tail for the long pendulous and fat-laden 
 one of the Cape sheep. This deposit of fat in the tail would 
 seem to have some connection with the absence of the usual 
 quantity of internal fat seen in the later breed. 
 
 Horses are affected in the lower districts with a congestive 
 fever, implicating the lungs at particular times and seasons, 
 which proves fatal to great numbers, especially such as are 
 turned out to graze all day, whence some attribute the cause to 
 the grass, especially with the dew on. Purging and the main- 
 tenance of profuse perspiration are the usual methods of 
 alleviation of the fever. Some are cured, but the majority 
 of cases are unsuccessful, especially with venesection. 
 
 The Common Hare {Lcpus) may be found and shot about the 
 open thickets on stony clayey ground in the level parts of the 
 Bush country, but its flesh is far inferior to that of the English 
 hare, and very dry. It has a grayish fur, and is of considerable 
 size. 
 
 Associated with it, but in more stony places, occasionally 
 springs up, and darts off very swiftly and sharply, the mountain 
 hare, Kliphaas, or red hare, about half the size of the common 
 species, having a general silver-gray thick fur, red woolly tail, 
 and red legs, and has long hairs round the nose and cheeks. Its 
 skin is very difficult to take off, from its thinness, and slight- 
 ness, and is difticult to preserve. The flesh is very similar to 
 that of the large species. 
 
 Out feeding in the clear moonlight nights after dark, may 
 often, in particular localities, be detected the pretty and singular 
 Spring Hare, Cape Jerboa {Pedetes Capensis), in the neighbour- 
 hood of open sandy clay soil, interspersed with small bushes, 
 which it browses on, standing on its hind legs. It has many of 
 the peculiarities of the squirrel or sloth, in the shape of its fore 
 
Plate III. 
 
THE HERBIVORA. 35 
 
 paws, which seem manifestly constructed for grasping brandies 
 or holding berries or nuts. Its powerful, strong, sharp incisors 
 can easily bite the small twigs or cut off the wild fruit. 
 
 It does not seem adapted to climb trees, and therefore only 
 obtains such food as is within reach of a standing posture on its 
 long hind legs, armed with hoof -like nails on the feet. As the 
 fore feet are made as prehensile organs, it would seem that it 
 is chiefly enabled to progress by leaps, like the kangaroo, from 
 its hind feet and tail, which is long, tolerably thick, and plenti- 
 fully supplied with muscular powder. When wounded it utters 
 a peculiar shrill, melancholy cry. It betakes itself during the 
 day to holes of its own construction in the sandy ground, 
 running amongst the roots of the small thickets. 
 
 When in a sleeping posture, or reposing, the long hind legs 
 are stretched out forwards, and between them it buries its head, 
 enfolded at the sides by its fore feet, the tail either extended or 
 sweeping round one side of the body. The tail has a knob-like 
 termination covered with black hair, the remainder being of the 
 usual fawn colour of the body, etc. It has a similar posture 
 with its limbs when reposing on its side. 
 
 They are destructive to garden vegetables, and eat of the 
 young mealies as they sprout forth. Its strong rodent incisors 
 are very similar to those of the porcupine, and the fangs extend 
 a long way into each upper and lower maxillary bone. The fur 
 is bright and fulvous, and the hairy tail tinged black at its 
 extremity. There is no external appearance of the testes, a 
 peculiarity shared in by the elephant, seal, and cetacea, according 
 to Professor Jones, who, however, does not allude to the spring 
 hare in the paragraph in his Comparative Anatomy. These 
 organs are both included in the abdominal cavity, but into the 
 inguinal canal may be observed inserted the detractor ligament, 
 the agent of the descent of the testes in the young of otlier 
 animals. Each organ is suspended by its free extremity against, 
 but free of, the anterior walls of the abdomen. The vasa 
 deferentia pass from each testis to tlie corresponding side of the 
 
36 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 base of the bladder, and the vesiculte seminales exist as entirely 
 separate glands, whose ducts enter the vasa deferentia. 
 
 Basking themselves on the sunny side of the krantzes in the 
 evenings and mornings, may generally be seen several of the 
 Klipdas, Cony, Rock Rabbit, or Cape Hyrax (H. capensis), sitting 
 together on the stones, and when alarmed by the approach of a 
 stranger, rapidly to dive like lizards into the cavities out of 
 sight. They are of various sizes, from that of a rat up to a full- 
 grown rabbit ; their fur is very fine, and the skin soft. 
 
 They are classed as pachydermata, but are plantigrade, and 
 the feet are formed similar to those of a monkey, having a 
 cushiony leathery sole all over, extending along the lower 
 surfaces of the fingers and toes, which are provided with little 
 nails, evidently adapting them for their stony peregrinations. 
 
 They may be seen ascending up almost perpendicular faces 
 of rock, and they can as rapidly descend without having recourse 
 to a fall to hasten their descent. The distribution of the teeth 
 are as follows : Incisors 2/6, canines 1/1-1/1, molars 5-5/4-4 = 30. 
 The lower incisors are small chisel-shaped, set together, and 
 their edges indented like a saw transversely. The two upper 
 incisors are longer, curved, triangular, pointed, and set apart, 
 and look like canines in every respect as to appearance, and no 
 doubt as to use, for they cannot cut, and are only serviceable to 
 tear, and in fact are suitable tusks. The molars are all tuber- 
 culated. No tail. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 THE CAENIVOEA. 
 
 LEOPARDS— WILD CATS — BABOONS— HYENAS— JACKALS — 
 RATELS — MOUSEHUXD— PORCUPINES — WILD DOGS. 
 
 Of the common Bush Tiger or Leopard {F. Lcopardus) there are 
 generally two kinds seen, a smaller and larger, inhabiting the 
 densest bush of the koppies, kloofs, and krantzes. They are a 
 great nuisance to the sheep-farmers of the Bush country, prey- 
 ing on his flocks, and are said to be very partial to baboons' 
 flesh; some skins of the large kind with the long tail reach 
 eight or ten feet long, while the smaller average about five or 
 four. The spoor of some attain the size of that of a horse or 
 ox's, or larger, recognised from that of the wolf or dog by their 
 circularity, and the absence of claw-marks. 
 
 They are sometimes hunted with a pack of good dogs by the 
 Boers, and when brought to bay, despatched with the roer. 
 Otherwise they are caught in traps placed not far from the 
 kraals; a large wolf-trap, with teeth, is set in the ground, 
 covered over with rubbish in a sort of small kraal of bush, at. 
 the entrance of which it is placed, and opposite to it about two 
 feet, is staked a piece of fresh meat. The animal is obliged, in 
 order to get at this, and tear it off its fixture, to pass over and 
 tread upon the plate of the trap, which, by the pressure, 
 instantly loosens the spring, and the animal is caught by tlie 
 limb. The trap is not fixed firm, so that the tiger can, if lie 
 pleases, walk of!' with it attached to his leg into the cover of 
 
38 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 some neighbouring thicket or kloof, as, if not permitted to do so, 
 he would break or eat off his own limb, and so escape entirely. 
 The Boer next morning misses the trap, collects his dogs, and 
 ^^oes on the spoor, and is not long in discovering the retreat of 
 the exhausted tiger. Their skins are valuable, the larger being 
 rated at about 30s., and the smaller 15s., to purchasers ; and are 
 used for caresses and chair and sofa covers. 
 
 A few years ago a fine young Boer met an untimely end 
 from being attacked by one of these ferocious creatures. He 
 went out with his dog and gun, accompanied by a Caffre 
 servant, to look after his sheep, during the day grazing amongst 
 tlie bush of the i'ish Pdver, near the Kat Pdver junction. The 
 dog scented and discovered a tiger in a neighbouring kloof, and 
 the servant having ascertained that such was the case, requested 
 his master would enter the bush with him, and kill the tiger. 
 The Boer declined at first, telling the Caffre he could not trust 
 him in a fight, and knew that he would run away at a critical 
 time. However, the contrary assurances of the servant at 
 length prevailed on the Boer, and both went in to attack the 
 tiger. The dog having shown them his whereabouts, though 
 still under some concealment from the foliage, the Boer fired 
 and wounded the animal, which immediately sprung out, and 
 ere the shot could be repeated, felled his antagonist, and the 
 c«-un was thrown out of reach in the fall : the Boer now cried 
 out for his servant's assistance, but the coward had fled. A 
 long strug-gle now ensued for life and death : the Boer had got 
 on his feet, but the tiger kept repeatedly springing up at his 
 throat, and was as often shaken off by the hands. So rapid was 
 this action that had it not been for the timely courage of the 
 dog, at length seizing and biting the tiger severely on the flanks, 
 and diverting its attention for a moment, that enabled him to 
 reach his gun, and despatch his enemy, the Boer would have 
 been worried on the spot. Assistance from some passing people 
 enabled liim then to reach his home, but dreadfully lacerated in 
 the shoulders, arms, and scalp, and faint from the loss of blood. 
 
THE CARN/VORA. 31) 
 
 Death in ten days, however, put a period to his sufferings, which 
 continued till then intense, the wounds never havin<>- Ijecome 
 healthily inflamed or suppurated. 
 
 Other accidents of this nature have occurred in contests 
 with this formidable savage of the forests, and are so generally 
 fatal that a tiger's bite in the country is reckoned poisonous, for 
 which perhaps there may be some ground, in analogy with that 
 of a rabid dog, and from a received opinion that the salivary 
 juices of carnivorous animals in a state of passion become 
 morbidly changed from their constitution in health. 
 
 A few individuals of the Bed Cat or Lynx {Fclis Lynx) are 
 found in similar situations to the ticker, and are caufdit and 
 destroyed by similar means, by either dogs or traps. They are 
 equally a nuisance to the sheep-kraals, and, like the wild cat, 
 prey upon fowls and such domestic birds. Their fur is reddish- 
 yellow above, rather whitish underneath ; the inguinal resions 
 have a few dark brown spots scattered on them. The tail is 
 black at its extremity, and the nearly erect ears, of a dull lead 
 colour, are tipped with a pencil of fine hairs. Their skins are 
 valuable for carosses and such purposes. 
 
 The Wild Cat (Felis Serval, F. Citv.) is found everywhere in 
 bushy country, and is very destructive to feathered game. It 
 sometimes attains as large a size as the small tiger, and is of 
 great comparative length of body, and the tail becomes very 
 bushy. Like all these feline animals, they are found amongst 
 bushy thickets, or else may be seen ensconced in trees, awaiting 
 to spring on their prey beneath. 
 
 Several communities of the Baviaan, or Ursine Baboon 
 (Cyiiocejjhalns porcarius), are scattered over this bushy country 
 in different localities. Inaccessible bushy krantzes are their 
 favourite resort, but they may be found amongst the hills and 
 koppies here and there ; but when alarmed they betake them- 
 selves to their rocky fastnesses. They are destructive in gardens 
 and grain fields, and become an annoyance to farmers on that 
 account. When troublesome, they are sometimes hunted when 
 
40 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 found single, as attacking a whole community, except for their 
 dispersion, would be dangerous. A pack of dogs is employed 
 to bring the animal to bay, and the conflict is very similar to 
 that with the wild pig, and is obliged to be terminated with the 
 knife or the bullet. If a baboon takes refuge in the trees from 
 the dogs which wait barking at the foot, he is brought down by 
 a shot, which probably only wounds him, as correct aim cannot 
 easily be taken, from the obstruction of the leaves. 
 
 Sometimes a dog is killed by the wounds inflicted by the 
 baboon's formidable tusks, and generally one or two are 
 wounded before the struggle is over. These tusks are quite as 
 formidable as those of the w^ild pig, bi^t the upper one, pointed 
 downwards, is the longer and more projecting of the two, quite 
 sharp on the hinder edge, so that what is bitten is speedily 
 torn through by the retraction of the head of the animal. In 
 some old individuals, from the absence of so perfect a grinding 
 tooth opposite as the pig possesses, the upper tusks attain such 
 a length that it becomes impossible to open the jaw wide 
 enough, so as to permit the use of such an apparently formid- 
 able fang, and consequently the Boer has less fear of having 
 his dogs maimed when hunting such, as their bite is no longer 
 to be dreaded. Many old baboons also are devoid of one or 
 other upper tusk, which has probably been broken off in some 
 former struggle. 
 
 When caught young, they may be trained to a certr'in 
 extent ; but they very frequently become ferocious from the 
 confinement of the chain, especially males, and dangerous to 
 their keepers and masters, and are obliged to be shot. A serious 
 accident of this nature happened to a commissariat officer in 
 Graham's Town, who was much lacerated by a baboon he was 
 keeping, but wdiich was afterwards shot. 
 
 • The more inhabitCid parts of Fish Eiver country have nearly 
 been cleared of the Cape Wolf {Hycena crocuta), or spotted 
 hyaena, but they still exist in that part about Committee's and 
 Trumpeter's drifts. As these animals are very destructive to 
 
THE CARNIVORA, 41 
 
 flocks, instead of hunting them for sport, the farmers have got 
 rid of them in a wholesale manner. Pieces of meat impreg- 
 nated with strychnine are deposited here and there over a 
 certain property, and the wolf, if it partakes of any of them, is 
 generally found dead not further than 100 yards off. This 
 poison is so strong, that the flesh of the poisoned animal Ije- 
 comes itself poisonous, and will act nearly as powerfully as the 
 original bait, whatever animal partakes of it. 
 
 Their large, dog-like spoor may sometimes be seen during 
 wet weather, when they are more daring than usual. Thev are 
 sometimes seen by travellers in the Trumpeter's Hill road, and 
 have proved such a source of obstruction to some people, as to 
 make them retrace their steps; and on these occasions they 
 appear in troops. They do not generally act on the offensive, 
 but fight desperately when attacked. Their enormous jaws and 
 powerful strong teeth enable them to crush a limb or break a 
 very stout stick like a twig. 
 
 An old Boer farmer near Fort Brown retains to this dav 
 numerous traces of deep wounds inflicted on him when, in his 
 younger days, he attacked and fought with a wolf that had 
 entered his sheep-kraal, and would not have escaped being 
 worried on the spot, unless assistance had arrived in time. 
 These wolves are sometimes caught in large wooden crate-like 
 traps, ten or fifteen feet square, and formed of stout building 
 timber. 
 
 A bait is affixed at the end opposite to a sliding door, which 
 falls down on the former being loosened. Almost incredible 
 instances are told of their power in crushing and breaking sticks, 
 bending pokers, etc., by their jaws. They live chiefly in caverns 
 and holes in the ground, such as old abandoned antbear runs, 
 but their paws are powerful enough to excavate for dead 
 carcases a considerable depth, and by many they are said to 
 burrow their own holes. 
 
 The Jackal, or Caiw Fox (Cam's mesovtclas), affords good 
 coursing in open country, and English foxhounds have been 
 
42 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 trained to scent and follow him. He betakes himself generally 
 to holes also, made in the earth by the antbear and porcupine, 
 which have been abandoned. They are rather handsome in 
 appearance, with erect open ears, long flowing fur, and a fine 
 bushy tail, black at the after-part. The back is marked by a 
 large patch of dark gray, with long white hairs interspersed, 
 extending from the neck to the rump, and is bounded by a 
 different coloured stripe all round, the rest of the fur being of 
 a tawny colour ; the tip of the nose is black and sharp. 
 
 They can be made a pet of when caught young, and be 
 taught to follow and act like a dog somewhat, but are rather 
 uncertain in temper. Their prepared fur skins are made into 
 very handsome carosses, and are nearly equal in this respect to 
 those made of wild-cat skin, that of the male beincr handsomer 
 than the female. Jackals are generally solitary in their habits 
 in a wild state, and are not seen in troops like the wild dog in 
 this part of the country. 
 
 The Mane Jackal {Proteles Lalandi, Is. Geo/.), a kind of 
 striped hyaena, shares peculiarities proper to the dog and the 
 hyaena. It is rarer than the common fox, more shy, and less 
 fleet when pursued, and lives in holes in the earth. Its food 
 would appear to consist chiefly of ants, beetles, roots, and bulbs, 
 etc.: for the obtaining of mere carnivorous food, neither its 
 teeth nor its strength would seem adapted. Its knees are soil- 
 marked, hard, and bare of fur; and its posture at times, on 
 feeding on certain aliments, would seem similar to the goat, 
 which goes on its knees when cropping the grass. Its fur is 
 coarse, of a dirty gray colour, and marked with transverse black 
 stripes on the body and limbs. 
 
 A mane extends along the back from the head to the tail, 
 which is erected when the animal is pursued or its passions 
 aroused, but is not perceived when in a state of repose. The 
 tail is bushy, like the jackal, black at the tip, and hangs down 
 as far as the hock, about half as short as the jackal's. The fore 
 feet have five toes, and the hind feet four toes, like the dog, in 
 
Plate IV. 
 
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IT 
 
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THE CARNIVORA. 43 
 
 which it differs from the generic characters of the liytena. The 
 teats of the female are four, situated in the ventral region, and 
 the tongue is spiny, or aculeated, as in the true hyaena. 
 
 The teeth seem peculiar to it alone, are weak and small, the 
 great carnivorous tooth of the dog, hyrena, and jackal is wanting, 
 and the only substitute for the molars are a few separate small 
 lancet-shaped teeth, which, it is stated, it retains tlu'ough life. 
 These are seen in specimens of full growth, so that they are not 
 milk teeth. It only resembles the dog in having incisors and 
 canines in the upper and lower jaw, the former of which seem 
 much used, being worn by the frequent act of cropping or 
 biting. Incisors 6/6, canine 1/1-1/1, molars 5-5/4-4 = 34. Its 
 ears are long and erect like the hyiena, and there is an anal 
 odoriferous gland. 
 
 The Katel ( Viverra mellimra) is a common inhabitant of the 
 bush, and may be accidentally met with, or flushed by dogs on 
 its scent, which is strong. It feeds on honey nests, though 
 sometimes attacking the hen-roost and domestic fowls. The 
 ratel follows the note and leading of the honey -bird, and 
 answers it by a low grunt; a peculiar odour it emits drives 
 away the bees, and the ratel digs out the different pieces of 
 comb, and piles them outside the cavity, on which it repasts, 
 but leaves some portion for a subsequent meal, part of which, of 
 course, is shared by the honey-bird {Indicator), 
 
 It is very difficult to kill by dogs, from the great thickness 
 of its skin and the coarseness of the hair, which also afford it 
 protection from the stings of the bees. Its skin is used by the 
 Boers for soles of shoes. A heavy blow on the nose is stated to 
 be the most vulnerable wound, and this peculiar vulnerability 
 is shared by the porcupine. It is characterised by the large 
 distinctly -bounded patch of dull ash-gray fur on its back, 
 bounded on the sides by black stripes, and extending from tlie 
 head to the tail. 
 
 Two or three different kinds of MouseJmnd, or weasel 
 (Ifustcla), are commonly seen now and then running sharply 
 
44 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 from one bush to another, or they may be turned out by dogs. 
 One variety {Zorilla) has its fur variegated by longitudinal 
 black and dirty yellowish-white stripes, extending from the nose 
 to the tail, and emits a very strong odour, when attacked or 
 disturbed, from its anal gland, so that many dogs refuse to attack 
 it — also then erecting its tail, and uttering a peculiar scream. 
 
 In skinning such an animal, care must be taken not to 
 wound this gland, else its secretion pouring out will taint the 
 skin so much that the odour never leaves it. Another kind is 
 of an entirely grayish-brown sandy colour, and the fur is very 
 soft ; and the furred skin is used by the natives for tobacco 
 sacs, and such used. It does not appear to be possessed of such 
 a powerful scent as the former kind. 
 
 The Vov(i\\^\i\Q{Hystrix) affords good sport in the moonlight 
 nights, people going out with dogs, and on horseback, armed 
 with spears, or instruments that will answ^er such a purpose, 
 and heavy sticks. They come out of their deep burrows at that 
 time to feed, and root in the surface of the soil for bulbs, roots, 
 etc. The flesh of the young porcupine makes good kind of pork 
 when dressed for the table. 
 
 It is a fiction their darting their quills ; but they are easily 
 detached from the skin, and their points are very sharp, and 
 resemble very much the blade of an assegai ; and if they enter 
 a certain depth into the body of some unfortunate dog, readily 
 stick there till pulled out. They are very destructive amongst 
 gardens, and burrow holes in even hard ground very rapidly, 
 dividing the roots that cross by their strong sharp incisors. 
 The skull of the porcupine is very slight and spongy, and 
 easily crushed when dried, which may explain the blow on the 
 nose being fatal to them. 
 
 A troop of Wild Dogs {Lycaon picta, Brookes) are occasion- 
 ally seen crossing the Bush country in the open glades, in the 
 pursuit of some large buck, as a koodoo or bushbuck, and the 
 destined victim seldom or ever escapes the perseverance and 
 avidity of its pursuers, who follow it for miles on the spoor, 
 
THE CARNIVORA. 45 
 
 which is never surrendered till it terminates at the death. 
 Fleetness and. the densest thickets are of no avail against these 
 unrelenting hunters ; the leading dog on the scent when tired 
 sinks back into the pack, and a fresher huntsman takes his 
 place, every one working for the common service of the stomachs 
 of the whole pack. Its appearance gives one the idea of an 
 intermediate form between the dog and the jackal, which it 
 resembles in its pointed nose and long erect ears. 
 
 There are a great variety of Bogs in use in tlie colony, of all 
 sizes, shapes, and degrees of strength, etc., but few gifted with 
 individual courage and fine discerning scent, like English blood- 
 bred dogs, and are only useful when in numbers. The progeny 
 of pure blood-dogs imported into the colony soon degenerate 
 into the usual type witnessed here ; the broad, short, and square 
 nose becoming elongated, narrow, and pointed ; the ears gradu- 
 ally acquiring more erectness, and the tail becoming wiry if 
 bushy, and curly and hairy if smooth and straight 
 
 The shaggy coat of the imported Skye terrier or spaniel, in 
 the individual itself, ere long becomes smooth and shorter, and 
 the hair straight ; and the next breed are more altered still. 
 Nothing but fresh blood from England, or elsewhere, can keep 
 up good breeds of any kinds of household or hunting dogs, and 
 they are found always much superior to their progeny born in 
 the country. 
 
 Well-bred dogs are much thinned in numbers by the dis- 
 temper, a remittent fever, which attacks them more virulently 
 than it does more common breeds, and with more fatal effect. 
 This disease bears strong characters of a congestive bilious 
 fever, the liver and . lungs become loaded with blood, and 
 the white of the eyes becomes yellow, and torpidity and total 
 loss of appetite ensue. The most efficacious remedies would 
 appear to be emetics and calomel purges, followed by antimony 
 and calomel powders. 
 
 I cannot call to mind any instance of canine madness in this 
 country, or any cases of hydrophobia. Whether this exemption 
 
46 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 is due to the uncontrolled liberty here given to dogs, which are 
 seldom or ever chained up, allowing them free access to water 
 wherever it lies, or to the unrestrained companionship of the 
 bitch, I am unable to say. Certain it is, dogs are here un- 
 commonly salacious. 
 
 The observation of the tendency to degeneracy of well-bred 
 dogs, would argue the influence of the rough climate and food in 
 reducing their varieties all down to the common characteristics 
 of the native dog of the country, the Canis vcnatica, which fate 
 seems applicable also to the well fed ox and horse imported 
 from Britain, and seemingly also to the original European 
 himself in the interior. 
 

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CHAPTER IV. 
 THE AAEDVARK (Orycteropus Capensis). 
 
 TONGUE — HABITS — HUNTING — DIMENSIONS. 
 
 In Professor Rymer Jones' General Outline of the Animal 
 Kingdom, is to be found a description of the elongated tongue 
 of the Ant-eaters of South America, and the Echidna of New 
 Holland. The Aardvark (the Earth-hog, Dutch) and these two 
 animals belong to the order of Edentata, but the last is further 
 distinguished by being monotrematous. Whether Professor 
 Jones' description is intended to refer to the tongues of all the 
 animals in that order that possess them as instruments of pre- 
 hension does not appear, and it may be correct ; but from two 
 or three specimens of the organ dissected by me in the Aard- 
 vark, I am led to doubt its applicability to this animal. 
 Professor Jones speaks of two proper muscles not found in the 
 tongues of other mammalia, an external annular one, and an 
 internal elongated spiral one, invested by the former. These I 
 have been unable to detect in the tongue of the Cape Ant-eater, 
 and I subjoin the following description of my acquaintance with 
 its lingual anatomy : 
 
 The tongue is from 10 to 12 inches long, when stretched out. 
 The mucous membrane of its upper surface is rough and of a 
 file-like feeling, when the finger is passed backwards along it. 
 There are three papillae near the base, situated in the form of a 
 triangle. On the outside, at about the posterior half, are the 
 conjoined palato and stylo-glossiis muscles, and internally to 
 them, the lingualis, running from the base to the tip of the 
 
48 THE FfSn RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 tongue ; and at the posterior fourth in the mesial line is the 
 lingual attachment of the mylo-hyoglossus muscle. 
 
 The lingual sensory nerve is very large, and lies in a groove 
 between the mylo-hyoglossus and the lingualis, and after pass- 
 ing the former, the two nerves lie side by side in the mesial 
 line between the two Unguals. The muscular nerves branch off; 
 the fifth enters the mylo-hyoglossus, gives branches to it, and 
 then passes forward alongside the lingual nerve. 
 
 The muscle to which I would attribute the protruding ac- 
 tion of the tongue, or the Extensor lingito., consists of per- 
 pendicular fibres passing from the thick mucous membrane of 
 the upper surface and sides, to the cellular tissue investing the 
 linguales muscles ; this occurs throughout the whole length of 
 the tongue, and engrosses more and more of the comparative 
 thickness of the tongue towards the point from the base. 
 
 The best way of demonstrating the course of its fibres, 
 which are otherwise visible enough, is to incise the tongue 
 either transversely or longitudinally, just through the thickness 
 of the mucous membrane, and then tear open the incision. 
 The laceration is easy, and goes in the direction of the fibres to 
 their attachment at the upper surface of the lingualis. The 
 contraction of this muscle, in all its body, will produce a con- 
 traction of the diameter or thickness of the tongue, and at the 
 same time, from the consequent increase of the diameters of the 
 separate muscular fasciculi, must the tongue elongate. It may 
 be otherwise stated, if the mass of the tongue is decreased in one 
 direction, it must correspondingly increase in another — like a 
 bladder nearly full of water, which elongates in the direction 
 lateral to the points of pressure. 
 
 Should the mesial fibres of this perpendicular or transverse 
 muscle be thrown into action, then the upper surface of the 
 tongue would become flattened or hollowed out. The retraction 
 of the tongue is of course accomplished by the lingualis and the 
 other motions of the organ by the other muscles as ordinarily 
 shown. This action of the perpendicular fibres also renders the 
 
 t^ 
 
THE AARDVARK. 49 
 
 tongue, when projected at the same time, somewhat elastic and 
 firmer, so as to allow of the stronger action of the others in 
 bending it in different directions ; one or the other lingualis 
 laterally, or both downwards, when the lower fibres of this 
 muscle are thrown into action ; and when the upper fibres are 
 in a similar state, the point of the tongue would be directed 
 upwards. What share the muscles of the base of the organ 
 particularly have in its notions, I do not enter upon, merely 
 having considered the actions of the free part of the tongue. 
 
 On section of the upper surface of the mucous membrane, 
 between the muscular fasciculi, appear yellow oblong ovoid 
 bodies, about a line in length each, probably mucous glands, or, 
 as I had not means of deciding this point, may be particles of 
 fat, though not likely, as they only occur among the muscular 
 fasciculi at the upper surface, and not at the lower extremities 
 of the fasciculi. When the perpendicular or radiating fibres are 
 in action, the secretions from these glands would evidently be 
 expressed out upon the surface of the tongue, thereby supplying 
 the adhesive fluid which is the means employed by the ant- 
 eater for the capture and retention of its insect food. The 
 specimen of the animal wiiich I procured for the above dissec- 
 tion was a female, had four teats, and was 6 feet 2 inches in 
 length from the nose to the end of the tail. 
 
 The next one which I dissected afforded the following 
 description : The mijlo-liyoid muscle, or flat muscle next the 
 skin ; Gcnio-hyoid of two bands, on each side of the mesial line 
 between the chin and hyoid-bone ; Gcnio-liyoglossus between the 
 chin hyoid-bone and tongue, the lingual fibres radiating upwards 
 to the tongue ; the latter part is broader behind where it is 
 attached to the root of the tongue, and terminates, conically 
 forwards, to about the middle of its length ; Falato-glossus, a 
 large flat band on each side of the former, and, together with 
 the lingualis, forms the lateral and inferior muscular mass of 
 the tongue, from the root to the tip ; Stijlo-rjlossus, a small band 
 of fibres, descending from the styloid process, perpendicularly 
 
 D 
 
50 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 to the root of the tongue, where it comes again forward on the 
 outside, and parallel to the former muscle, and is finally lost at 
 about one-third from the root, in the fibres of the palato-glossus 
 and lingualis. 
 
 Lying above this mass of muscle, composed of the palato, 
 and stylo-glossus, and lingualis, which — after passing the 
 anterior edge of the genio-hyoglossus, lie side by side, and form 
 also the inferior half of the muscular mass of the tongue where 
 it is free — is the perpendicidar muscle already described, part of 
 which, at the base of the tongue, is attached below to the 
 lingual termination of the crenio-hyoglossus. In the mesial line 
 between the perpendicular fibres and the longitudinal ones, lie 
 the nerves and vessels of the tongue. There is also a vein, run- 
 ning in the mesial line on the upper surface of the tongue, just 
 underneath the mucous membrane, havhig transverse branches 
 fallino; into it from the muscular substance and mucous coat. 
 This specimen was also a female, had four teats, and was 5 feet 
 4 inches in length from the nose to the tail. 
 
 In support of the views which I have been led to take of 
 the powers of the perpendicular fibres, I may mention that a 
 similar muscle exists in all mammiferous tongues which I have 
 examined, and I believe is the co-efiicient of all those peculiar 
 movements connected with the protrusion of the tongue ; and 
 that the other longitudinal muscles are connected with this act 
 chiefiy to guide the organ in different directions, as the sole 
 and separate action of these latter muscles would be that of 
 retracting the organ in one or other directions. Protrusion is, 
 then, the province of the perpendicular muscles ; retraction that 
 of the longitudinal ones; different combinations of the two 
 produce the several movements out of the axis of the tongue, 
 whether the organ is in a state of protrusion or retraction. 
 
 In the LumhriciLS teres, or round intestinal worm, may be 
 noticed fasciculi passing from the wa^lls of the abdomen to the 
 integument, and apparently firmly connected to each attachment. 
 These transverse fasciculi seem to exist nearly the whole length 
 
THE AARDVARK. 51 
 
 of the animal, and to encircle the interior digestive tubes ; each 
 fibre is of tolerably visible size, and pale in colour. As these 
 fasciculi pass between the peritoneal lining of the abdominal 
 cavity, and not from the walls of the proper intestinal canal, 
 to the integuments, so each attachment is a fixed point, 
 especially the interior one. That they are not glands may be 
 inferred from their disconnection with the intestinal mucous 
 membrane, though this point can only be strictly determined by 
 the microscope. I have, however, by inspection and anatomy, 
 been led to hold that these fasciculi are muscular and perpen- 
 dicular to the axis of the body of the animal, and to have a 
 similar action to the perpendicular fibres in the tongue of the 
 Cape Ant-eater. On the above supposition, that their action 
 would be to elongate the animal, without, at the same time, 
 compressing the contents of the digestive cavity, as the action 
 of circular fibres would do in producing the same elongating 
 effect. The digestive process would thus be interrupted by such 
 a mode of progression, and defecation would otherwise only 
 result, when the alleged circular fibres were thrown into action. 
 If any effect on the cavity of the abdomen were produced by 
 the perpendicular fibres, it would be to cause a tendency to a 
 vacuum, both by the elongation of the animal, and also by the 
 inner peritoneal walls being made the fixed point of action of 
 these alleged muscular fibres. Ingestion of food and fluids 
 would be thus aided most considerably, and independently of 
 any provision for such a purpose at the mouth. 
 
 It would, however, require further research to see whether 
 analogous muscles, having actions similar to those attributed to 
 the perpendicular fibres in the tongue of the Aardvark, or the 
 body of the round intestinal worm, can be found to bear out the 
 above general interpretation of their actions ; but I presume 
 that instances might be obtained to show sucli a peculiar modi- 
 fication of muscular power, and make it a more general physio- 
 logical property — as in the arms of some of the Cephalopoda, 
 the tongue of the Chameleon, the trunk of the Elephant, &c., &c. 
 
52 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 Habits of the Aardvarh This animal, inhabiting the Fish- 
 Eiver country, lives in immense holes, excavated by their 
 powerful, hoof-like claws, in the ground, some six or ten feet 
 below the surface. There are generally a collection of holes 
 like a warren at these places, all interconniiunicating, and 
 situated in or about a clump of trees or bushes. The calibre of 
 these passages is so large in some as to allow a man to creep 
 into. The animal mostly comes out at night, but may some- 
 times be seen during the day. 
 
 It is plantigrade on the hind feet, but digitigrade on the fore 
 ones. The fore-feet have four toes, and the hind-feet five each, 
 armed with strong hoof-like claws, very similar except in size 
 to the arrangement of those of the mole, so as to enable the 
 animal to dig and scrape away the earth sideways from them, 
 and also crosswise, the inner toes being longer than the outer 
 ones. 
 
 The ponderous conical tail, eighteen or twenty inches long, 
 composed of bony joints, and a multitude of muscles, covered 
 by an integument as thick as an ox's hide, hangs ordinarily 
 down, like that of the Cape sheep, wdien the animal is walking. 
 Its structure is similar to the tail of the Cape iguana or large 
 water-lizard, and its use may be, in one point of view, similar, 
 viz., as an instrument of defence from attack, as with, it they 
 strike dogs very forcibly that attack them. 
 
 AVhen surprised, they instantly make for their holes ; but as 
 they cannot run fast, they are therefore soon caught by dogs, 
 and easily shot or assegaied. AVhen seized by dogs by their 
 very soft ears, or by their velvety nose, tliey double in their 
 heads between their fore legs, and strike forwards, or kick with 
 their hind feet, so as to make their assailants lose hold, and 
 often repent their proceedings. 
 
 They are best caught in moonlight nights, when out feeding, 
 either by dogs, or waiting near a suspected warren till the 
 animal returns before the break of day. They live chietiy on 
 ants (Termites), and, as there are numbers of ant-hills all over the 
 
THE AARDVARK. 5-. 
 
 o 
 
 country, their food is ever at hand. They first dig away with their 
 fore-feet, partly, as it were, sitting on their hind legs, supported 
 by the tail, like the Cape Pedetes or jerboa, a large hole at the 
 base of the ant-hill, and, no doubt, when made sufficiently large, 
 they lie down and thrust their nose in, which is protected 
 from stinging by its velvety hair, when they ascertain the 
 neighbourhood of their game. 
 
 They then protrude their long tapering tongue, well covered 
 with secretions, through their toothless gums, which, when well 
 covered with ants, is retracted, and the burden disposed of in 
 the mouth for mastication. The mouth is abundantly supplied 
 with mucous o-lands under its covering; membrane, and the sub- 
 lingual glands are large and open, with many secretory ducts, 
 to pour out an abundant lubricating secretion. 
 
 From the want of both incisor and canine teeth, the bite of 
 the animal is harmless, and besides, the orifice of the mouth is 
 not much larger than suffices for a tongue-load of ants. By 
 means of the flat grinders on each side, this minute kind of 
 scaly food is ground into paste, and made fit for digestion. In 
 excavating its habitation, no doubt, the very great muscular 
 power of its hinder extremities comes into action, and shovelling 
 away, like a spade, the earth loosened by the fore-feet, the two 
 extremities act the part of a pick and shovel. From its beauti- 
 ful buck-like ears, one would suppose its sense of hearing was 
 exquisite, and perhaps of much more use to the animal than its 
 small, laterally-directed eyes, especially for its nocturnal and 
 subterranean habits of life. 
 
 Its hide is as thick as that of an ox, impenetrable, no doubt, 
 to all attacks from insects, and has much the appearance of a 
 pig's skin, but thicker, and has the same intimate connection 
 with the underlying muscular structure as in the latter animal, 
 so that the natives, when they slaughter the Aardvark for food, 
 cut it up into pieces wdth the skin on, as we do pork. 
 
 Dimensions of the Female killed near Fort Brown, whose 
 dissection is above given. Length, 5 feet 4 inches from the 
 
54 THE FISH RIVER BUSH, SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 nose to the tail end; nose to the root of the ear, 11 in.; ear to 
 the wrist or carpus, 14 J in. ; ankle (tarsus) to the protuberance 
 of the hip joint, 15 in.; length of the tail, 18 J in.; leg, from 
 the ankle to the spine, over the protuberance of the trochanter, 
 21 in. ; arm, from the wrist over the shoulder to the spine, 18 
 in. ; round the belly, just in front of the thigh, 3 feet 3 in. ; 
 round the thorax, behind the shoulders, 2 feet G in. ; round the 
 neck, behind the ears, 15^ in. 
 
 REFERENCES FOR CONTEMPORARY ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Harris's "Wild Animals of South Africa," 1840. 
 
 Ostrich, page 48. Elephant, page 115. Hippopotamus, page 57. 
 Rhinoceros, page 81. Aasvogels, pages 171, 174. Baboons, 
 page 157. Guinea Fowl, page 77. 
 
 Butler's "South African Wild Life of a Hunter," 1841. 
 
 Ostrich, plate 12. Vulture, plate 12. Baboons, plate 8. Aasvogels, 
 plate 7. Finks, plate 2. 
 
 Harris's "Wild Sports in South Africa,'' 1852. 
 
 Rhinoceros, pages 145, 202. Bujffalo, page 165. Elephant, page 
 169. Hippopotamus, page 182. 
 
REFERENCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS. 55 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Harris's "Wild Animals, South Africa," 18J:0. 
 
 Buffalo, page 65. Koodoo, page 103. Bushbuck, page 143. 
 Duiker, page 77. Griesbuck, page 143. Steenbuck, page 137. 
 Wild Pig, page 151. Eland, page 23. 
 
 Butler's "South African Wild Life of a Hunter," 1841. 
 
 Eland, plate 14. Buffalo, plate 13. Cape Horses, plate 1. Cape 
 Cattle, plate 1. 
 
 Harris's "Wild Sports in South Africa," 1852. 
 Cape Horses, page 69. Cape Oxen, page 93. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Harris's "Wild Animals, South Africa," 1840. 
 Leopards, page 167. Hviena, page 171. W^ild Dogs, page 171. 
 
 Butler's "South African Wild Life of a Hunter," 1841. 
 Hypena, plate 14. Leopard, plate 10. 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 Harris's "Wild Animals, South Africa," 1840. Description. 
 Aardvark, page 31. 
 
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