Page:Seven Years in South Africa v1.djvu/492

 man, who sold goods on account of Mr. Taylor, the merchant at Sechele. Although he only stayed here for a few days in each month, we were most hospitably entertained by him and his kind old mother.

The Buisport, through which we passed the next morning, is one of the most charming spots in the Marico highlands; it is traversed by a spruit, that retains water all through the year in the deep hollows of its rocky beds. We crossed the spruit several times; the travelling was very rough, and we had to proceed with the greatest caution, but all our trouble was amply repaid by the enjoyment of the picturesque scenery of the glen. Enclosed on every hand by the most diversified rocks, sometimes wooded, sometimes perpendicular, and sometimes running in terraces, it presents a prospect singularly attractive.

It likewise offers no little interest to the student of natural history. Bushbocks, pallahs, klippspringers, apes and baboons, and some smaller animals of the feline race are amongst the most common mammals, while leopards, lynxes, and koodoos are by no means rare. The variety of birds, snakes, insects, and plants is most remarkable. With the exception of the two kinds of bustard, I found nearly all the birds that I have hitherto mentioned, and besides these, I saw some quails, two new species of thrushes, a wryneck and two rollers.

The plateau upon which we entered at the farther