CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.
THE KLIPSPRINGERS.
In hopes of getting a shot at it on the wing, the boys crouched behindthe boulders as it flew round, holding their guns in readiness. Itpassed them at too great a distance, and none of them fired.
They expected to see it fly off, and wing its way towards theneighbouring mountains--as it could only be a stray visitor to the hill,some hungry old eagle out upon a hunt.
It was about to do this; for it had already risen to a considerableelevation, and was heading away, when all at once it stopped suddenly inits flight, and balanced itself for some moments in the air, with neckbent downward, as if it had taken a fresh interest in some object thathad just come under its eye below.
Had the rock-rabbits ventured forth again? No. It could not be they;for the eagle was hovering over a different quarter--quite the oppositeside of the mountain. If rock-rabbits were in sight, they must be adifferent party. That was not improbable. There might be others uponthe mountain. And yet the eagle would not hover above _them_ in thatway. The habit of this species is not to "swoop" from on high, but towatch from a perch upon some neighbouring rock, and dash upon the hyrax,when it comes out to feed or bask--precisely as the boys had seen it do.
So quick is the rock-rabbit in escaping to its retreat, that even aneagle, darting from a high elevation, would fail to clutch it. Hadthere been rock-rabbits below, they would have perceived the great blackbird above, and would have secured themselves at once. It could not bethey that were now occupying the attention of the vulture-eagle.
It was _not_ they. Hans, who with his double-barrel had hoped to obtaina shot at the eagle, and had crept ahead of his companions to the otherside of the tower-rock, saw that it was not rock-rabbits that had causedthe eagle to pause in its flight, but some creatures of a very differentcharacter.
About half-way down the slope grew a sandal-wood tree, one of thelargest upon the mountain, with a full bushy top. Directly, under thistree was a mass of tabular rock, with a smooth top, quite horizontal,and several yards in length and breadth. Over this, and nearly coveringits whole extent, the sandal-wood threw its protecting shadow; so thatwhile the hot sun baked down upon the surrounding slope, the surface ofthe rock was kept shaded and cool. It was just such a spot as one wouldhave chosen to have rested upon, commanding a far view of plains andpicturesque mountains, and sweetly shaded from the burning noondaybeams--just such a spot as the contemplative mind would have desired,and in which, freed from care, it could have delivered itself up topleasant meditations.
One cannot help fancying that many of God's wild creatures, in selectingtheir haunts and homes, have an eye to the picturesque. I can tell at aglance the cliff in which an eagle will make its eyrie, the glade thatwill be haunted by the stag or the fallow-deer, the tree under which hewill repose, and oft times it has appeared to me that these favouritehaunts are chosen by animals less for the security they afford, than forthe picturesque beauty that surrounds them.
One could hardly have fancied that lone wild mountain--that smoothtable-rock--that fragrant sandal-wood tree--without some living thingplaced there by Nature to enjoy the scene, and give life to thepicture--which would otherwise have been incomplete.
It was not incomplete. It was crowned and perfect. The shade of thesandal-wood fell not in vain. Upon the surface of the table-rock was agroup of living creatures born to enjoy that wild and lovely scene--created, as it were, to give a finish to the picture.
There were three individuals in this group--three quadrupeds of a kindthat had not been seen by the young yagers since the setting out oftheir expedition. Though these animals wore a similar coat of hair, andwere of the same yellowish olive colour, all three were of differentsizes. The largest was scarce so tall as a pointer-dog, while thesmallest was still less than a tiny young kid. The second was nothalf-way between the two, but nearly equal in size to the largest. Theprincipal difference between the latter two lay in the fact that thelarge one had a pair of horns upon its head, which the other wanted.There were no horns neither upon their tiny little companion. For allthis difference, the three were evidently of the same genus and species,nay, nearer relations still--of the same _family_. They were a familyof _klipspringers_.
Hans knew at once it was the klipspringer, (_Oreotragus saltatrix_), andso did all the others--for this interesting antelope is still foundwithin the settled districts of the Cape Colony--wherever highinaccessible cliffs and rock-covered mountains afford it a secureretreat from dog, hunter, and hyena.
Among the many interesting forms of the antelope tribe, that presentthemselves in South Africa, the klipspringer is not the leastinteresting. Though a very small creature, and of no great value to thehunter, it differs so much in its haunts and habits from others of theantelope race, as to make it an object of curiosity, even where it iscommon and often seen. Unlike the oryx, the gnoo, the hartebeest, theblesbok, the eland, and a host of others, the klipspringer never appearsupon the plain. It is purely a mountain-dwelling animal, and the cragand cliff are its favourite haunts. There it is safe from thecarnivorous beasts--the lion, the hyena, the wild-hounds, and thejackal--none of which can reach its secure retreat upon the ledges ofthe beetling precipice. Even the leopard cannot follow it there--notwithstanding his recurved claws that enable him to climb like a cat.On the steep cliffs, and along the dizzy heights, the klipspringer hasno equal in South Africa; he can scale them as no other quadruped; hefears no four-footed _beast_ of prey. Three birds alone are hisdangerous enemies--and these are the eagle of Verreaux, the Kaffireagle, and the lammergeyer.
The klipspringer stands about twenty inches in height is strongly andcompactly built, with stouter limbs than the small antelopes of theplain. His horns are but four inches in length, rise vertically up fromhis head, and incline slightly forward. They are wrinkled at the base,and ringed in the middle. The hair that covers his body is long, wiry,and thickly placed upon the skin; and standing out upon end, gives theanimal somewhat of a porcupine appearance. The colour is a nearlyuniform yellowish olive, caused by the individual hairs beingash-coloured at the base, brown in the middle, and yellow at the tips.One of the most characteristic points about the klipspringer is theformation of its hoofs. These, instead of being long and pointed--as isthe case with most antelopes--are cylindrical in form, and restvertically upon their bases. They are jagged at the edges--so as togive the animal the power of adhering to the smoothest rock, withoutdanger of slipping. Like every piece of Nature's handiwork, they areperfectly adapted to the use for which they are intended.
The klipspringer is not gregarious; but is seen in pairs, or _families_,as they now appeared under the eyes of the young yagers.
When Hans first noticed them, they were in different attitudes. Thebuck was standing upon the rock looking out over the plain below, buthad not as yet perceived the eagle--as the thick leafy top of thesandal-wood interposed between him and it.
The doe was lying down; while, kneeling beside her, and drawingnourishment from her teats, was the little kidling.
Presently, the black shadow of the soaring bird passed over thegreensward of the plain. It moved under the eyes of the buck, who,perceiving it, started suddenly, uttered a kind of hissing snort, andstruck the rock with his hoof. This movement on his part brought thedoe at once to her feet, as well as the little fawn; and all three stoodin an attitude of observation, turning their eyes now upon the shadowbelow, and now glancing suspiciously above. After a moment they allcommenced leaping about, though they still kept upon the rock. They sawthe eagle, for it had now moved out some distance over the plain, sothat the foliage of the tree was no longer interposed between it andthem.
It was just at this moment that the eagle had paused in its flight, andhung poised in the air. It had for the first time placed its eyes uponthe klipspringers.
In a moment the rapacious creature perceived the little fawn, coweringclose behind the body of its mother; and without more ado, the
birddirected its flight downward; and, when nearer, swooped straight at thegroup upon the rock.
Sudden as was the dash of the bird, it was a fruitless effort, and itrose again without having made a victim.
But when the spectators looked for the antelopes, not one of the threeremained upon the table, where they had stood the moment before! Asquick as the flight of the bird, all three had sprung off from the rock,and thus escaped from its dreaded claws.
One would have supposed that the klipspringers would have hid themselvesin crevices, as the conies had done. Not so. All three were seen--eachstanding conspicuously upon the top of a rock, and seeming to await thefurther action of the bird. With heads erect, and eyes turned upward,they stood, evidently expecting a renewal of the attack. The eagle,after hovering around and calculating its distance, swooped again.
In this fresh attempt of the tyrant the little fawn alone was aimed at.Had it been the others, they would have sprung out of reach as before;and so, too, did the fawn repeatedly, bounding from rock to rock, withthe elasticity of an india-rubber ball. But the wily bird continued theattack, turning each time in shorter circles, until the tiny limbs ofthe youthful antelope trembled with weariness. During all this time theold ones leaped about, bounding high in the air, and descending upon thesharpest edges of the rocks, as if they had alighted from a flight withwings. The object of their movements evidently was to draw the attackof the eagle upon themselves, and thus save their offspring.
It was to no purpose, however. The cunning ravisher preferred making avictim of the kid, and paid no attention to the manoeuvres of the oldones. No doubt, there were eaglets on the neighbouring mountain, andthe tenderest venison was wanted for their dinner.
At all events, the eagle continued to assail the poor little fawn, untilthe latter had no longer strength left to leap from the rock upon whichit had taken its last stand.
Another dash made the eagle--a last and final swoop. Its talons closedlike a cramp upon the vertebrae of the tiny quadruped, which the nextmoment was borne aloft into the air!
A shrill sad bleating was heard from below--drowned for an instant bythe discharge of several guns, whose reports echoed like thunder fromthe rocks; and then the winged robber, with his victim still clutched inhis talons, was seen falling with fluttering wings to the earth!
The Young Yagers--by Captain Mayne Reid