A\'ith l-lashliL;-ht and Rifle -^ 



of the plains. The whole unwieldy bodies of the animals 

 ■swing backwards and forwards, their necks swaying like 

 masts on a movino; sea. Thev whisk their tails backwards 

 and forwards when Heeing, or when their suspicion is 

 awakened. Alter one shot the whole herd fdls into a 

 •cjuick, shar|_) trot tor a tew moments, always flapping their 

 tails most energeticalK'. I am of opinion that by means 

 of this flapping and whisking of tails the giraffes are able 

 to communicate with and understand one another, and 

 this theory has much to be said tor it in view of the 

 absolute dumbness of these animals. Even at a distance 

 one notices the extraordinarily ex|)ressive eyes of the 

 giraffe, and it is easy to believe that the animal is chiefly 

 dependent upon them for its safety. 



Dr. Zell concludes that giraffes ha\e no sense of 

 smell from the tact that when in captivity they try 

 to eat the artificial flowers on the hats of the lady 

 visitors ; but this does not tall)' with ni\ experience 

 of the way in which they take to flight when one ap- 

 proaches them with an unfavourable wind. Deer, when 

 in captivity, also seize eagerly upon paper and other stuff, 

 and the desire for the artihcial leaves in the ladies' hats 

 can easily be explained by hunger engendered by the 

 unnatural food with whicii giraffes are ted in captixity. 



The poise of a giraffe's head is sometimes very 

 expressive of curiosity and encjuiry. Idle extremely 

 grotesque ap])earance of the animal is never so noticeable 

 as when it is seen standing sharp against the hori/on, not 

 unlike a high bare tree-trunk. Giraffes conununicate 

 Avilh one another l)y the carriage of the neck and the 



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