brown, with a forked tail, was fo bold that it fuffered itfclf to
'be knocked down with fticks. Juft the reverfe was the cafe
with a beautiful finall hawk nine inches long, of a chocolate
brown, with a triangular black fpot on each of the back feathers
¡'exterior fide o f the wing feathers marked with femicir-
cular ferruginous fpots paffing into white at the edges ; tail
barred with alternate black and cinereous-blue ftripes; beak
and nails of a livid color. A fpecies of crow in vaft numbers
is generally found to attend birds o f prey. It is uncommonly
bold and ravenous, and all its habits are vulturine 1 the beak is
ftronger* and more crooked than that of the raven, and the
upper mandible is carinated. One fex has a white ihield down
the back only ; the other both on the back and the breaft. It
is either a variety o f the raven, or an undefcribed fpecie!s. Of
other kinds of birds, there feemed to be few that are not commonly
met with in moil parts of the colony. Thruihes and
-turtle-doves were the moft numerous. The former are known
in the colony under the general name o f fprew. A defcription
of the different thruihes of Africa would alone nearly fill a volume
though not more than thirty fpecies appear to have been
noticed, o f which the nitens, reflecting every fliade of azure,
green, and purple, is the moll elegant, and one of the beft fingers.
The only curious and rare bird that I obtained in the
Kaffer country was the buceros Africanus, the African hornbill.
In one day’s journey from the Beeka we came to the mouth
of the Keiikamma, near which the river was about the Width
of the Thames at Woolwich, ftill, and apparently of great
depth ;
depth ; but the entrance: was guarded; by abar o f fand, upon
which the fdrf broke with great,violence.. On each fide of the
mouth reefs cif rocks ran out'.to a .confiderable diftance ; and
the wild and rocky coaft was without jfinuofities as far as the
eye Could reach. The mouth of the Keiikamma was found by
bbfervation to be in 33A 12' fouth latitude, and 28° 6' eaft
longitude.
The only kind of game that was met with near the fea-coail
was the harte-beeft, fhe-riet-bok,;iand the ree-bok. Innumerable
traces of hippopotami were vifible along the bank o f the
river; but none of thefe animals made their appearance.
The weather being remarkably fine, butterflies and moths
were flying about in the greateft abundance. O f the latter, I
noticed, near fifty diftinCt fpecies that, in one evening, came
•upon the table in the tent, attracted by the light of the candle.
Entomologifts, employed in making a collection of the fhalante,
could not adopt a better plan than that of placing a tent with a
light in it near the fide, of,a wood. Some of the papiliones were
very brilliant; and. there were, no doubt, among them many
fpecies that could not be matched even in Mr. Drury’s extern
five and valuable cabinet of foreign infeCts. I regretted the
want of time, and convenience .to ^ make a collection o f, the
infeCts of the country.
Having recrofled the Great-Filh river, on our return we directed
our courfe acrofs a plain, towards Graaff Reynet. On
this plain,was found, fome years ago, upon the furface of
isiiii G g the