Very Large Flocks Of Swifts (`Cypselus Apus') Were Observed
Flying Over The Plains North Of Kuruman.
I counted a stream of them,
which, by the time it took to pass toward the reeds of that valley,
must have numbered upward of four thousand.
Only a few of these birds
breed at any time in this country. I have often observed them,
and noticed that there was no appearance of their having paired;
there was no chasing of each other, nor any playing together.
There are several other birds which continue in flocks, and move about
like wandering gipsies, even during the breeding season, which in this country
happens in the intervals between the cold and hot seasons,
cold acting somewhat in the same way here as the genial warmth of spring
does in Europe. Are these the migratory birds of Europe,
which return there to breed and rear their young?
On the 31st of December, 1852, we reached the town of Sechele,
called, from the part of the range on which it is situated, Litubaruba.
Near the village there exists a cave named Lepelole;
it is an interesting evidence of the former existence of a gushing fountain.
No one dared to enter the Lohaheng, or cave, for it was the common belief
that it was the habitation of the Deity. As we never had a holiday
from January to December, and our Sundays were the periods of our greatest
exertions in teaching, I projected an excursion into the cave on a week-day
to see the god of the Bakwains.
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