2 8o • <775,- September. V^-y-O him on a narrow path. Tire owner of them had juft fireid (and that was all) to favehimfelf, while a buffalo meeting them gored the horfes to death, alid trampled them into the duft. But it will be more appofite to our purpofe, to give the hifiory and' defcription of this beaft farther on in the order of the time, when I became better acquainted with it; I likewife once faw a tiger-noood-cat and a grys-bok, and lhall, perhaps, find a better opportunity to make farther mention of thefe alfo. Of the feathered tribe I found in Houtniquas a new fpecies o f tantalus, called by the colonifts hagedajh, and alfo hadelde. This latter name has, in forne meafure, the fame found as the bird’s note; the bird itfelf, which was faid to be confined to this province, I have found likewife in great numbers about Zwart-kops-rivier. This fame bird is called by the Hottentots ’ta ’kat 'kene, a name which, i f rightly pronounced with three finacks of the tongue againft the roof o f the mouth, a ftranger will find more difficulty in uttering than the bird’s own language. It lives chiefly on bulbs and roots, Which with its crooked bill, it is faid to dig up out of the plains with great eafe and readinefs. There it is ihy and difficult to come at. In the evenings I always faw them upon fome tree in the woods at rooft, and in this fituation, one morning at fun-rife, I had the good fortune to ffioot one of them. The bill of this bird was five inches long, black at the tip and lower nib, at the upper nib red. The neck was of an aih-colour: the back the fame, and at the fame time had a caft of green with a. little yellow. The wings were dark beneath, and ahove of a blue colour inclining to black; the lefler lefler coVerts of a violet-colour. The tail, - which was Se '775- wedge-ihaped, was about twice the length o f the bill, and the body was fomewhat larger than that o f a hen. The thighs were o f an aih-colour. The feet and' legs, as well as the membrane between the claws, was blackiih; in other refpedts, this bird had all the charaiteriftic marks which belong‘ to the tantalus. The colonifts affined me, that it was a fign o f rain, when thefe birds affembled in great flocks* and flew againft the wind. The ftate of the weather in Houtniquas was faid to be as follows. In March and April it rains here moft ;, and, on the contrary, in the months of May, June, and July, (which about the Cape and elfewhere are the * winter months, and are attended with copious rains) it is here quite dry, though frequently rather cool and bleak. The nortli- weft wind at this time prevails here, as well as at the Cape ; fometimes the wind veers about to the north, and brings with it the warmth of fummer; a change which frequently occalions the milch-cows in Houtniquas to grow ftiff in the joints. I was affured, that it never rained when this north wind prevailed, probably on account of the chain of mountains, which extends from' eaft td weft, proving a harrier to keep the clouds on the other fide; or elfe by virtue of their attra£tion, detaining thefe Condenfed vapours on their fummits. I went through the wood' diredtly a- crofs it, with the intention of afcending the mountain* whence I might have a view o f Lange Kloof', but foundthe foot of the mountain every where fo thick over-run With high and ftiff perennial'graffes and bullies, as to be abfo- hitely impenetrable» V o l . L O o Hout
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