558 DEER. 



Besides the usual mode of hunting and stalking, the natives employ the pitfall for the 

 purpose of destroying this large and valuable animal. For this purpose a very curiously con- 

 structed pit is dug, being about ten feet in depth, proportionably wide, and having a wall or 

 bank of earth extending from one side to the other, and about six or seven feet in height. 

 When the Giraffe is caught in one of these pits, its fore-limbs fall on one side of the wall, and 

 its hind legs on the other, the edge of the wall passing under its abdomen. The poor creature 

 is thus balanced, as it were, upon its belly across the wall, and in spite of all its plunging, is 

 unable to obtain a foothold sufficiently firm to enable it to leap out of the treacherous cavity 

 into which it has fallen. The pitfalls which are intended for the capture of the hippopotamus 

 and the rhinoceros are furnished with a sharp stake at the bottom, which impales the luckless 

 animal as it falls ; but it is found by experience that, in the capture of the Giraffe, the trans- 

 verse wall is even more deadly than the sharpened pike. 



In spite of the great size of the Giraffe, and its very peculiar formation, it is not nearly so 

 conspicuous an animal as might be imagined. The long neck and dark skin of the creature 

 are so formed that they bear a close resemblance to the dried and blasted stems of the forest 

 trees. So close is the resemblance, that even the keen-eyed natives have been known to 

 mistake trees for Giraffes, and vice versa. 



The Giraffe is generally found in little herds, sometimes only five or six in number, and 

 sometimes containing thirty or forty members, the average being about sixteen. These animals 

 are found of all sizes and both sexes, each herd being imder the guidance of one old experi- 

 enced male, whose dark chestnut hide and lofty head render him conspicuous above his fellows. 

 These herds are always found either in or very close to forests, where they can obtain their 

 daily food, and where they can be concealed from their enemies among the tree-trunks, to 

 which they bear so close a resemblance. 



As the hide of the Giraffe is enormously thick, the animal is not easily to be killed by the 

 imperfect weapons with which the native tribes are armed, and does not readily yield its life 

 even to the bullets of the white man. It is but seldom that a single shot has laid low one of 

 these animals, and in these rare cases the balls were of heavy calibre and made of hardened 

 metal. The flesh of the Giraffe is considered to be good, when rightly prepared, and its mar- 

 row is thought to be so great a delicacy that the natives eagerly suck it from the bones as they 

 are taken from the animal. When cooked, it is worthy of a place on a royal table. The flesh 

 is well fitted for being made into jerked meat. The thick, strong hide, is employed in the 

 manufacture of shoe-soles, shields, and similar articles. 



DEER. 



* 



THE characteristics by which the different groups of DEER are distinguished, as well as 

 those which mark out the genus and species, are not at all self-evident, but are variously given 

 by varioiis zoologists. Most writers base their classification solely upon the horns, but as these 

 ornaments are not to be found in every specimen, nor at every season, such a classification 

 would evidently be impracticable in many cases. Moreover, the same species, or even the 

 same individual, bears horns of quite a different aspect at different times of its life, while 

 several species which are clearly distinct are furnished with closely similar horns. Bearing 

 these difficulties in mind, Mr. Gray has judiciously employed several characteristics in his 

 systematic arrangement of the Deer, and for that purpose has made use of the form and 

 extent of the muzzle, the position and presence of glands on the hind legs, the general form of 

 the horns, and the kind of hair which forms the fur. 



From the antelopes the Deer are readily distinguished by the character of the horns, 

 which only belong to the male animals, are composed of solid bony substances, and are 

 shed and renewed annually during the life of the animal. The process by which the 

 horns are developed, die, and are shed, is a very curious one, and deserves a short notice 



