236 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



Lobengula's country, leaving our friends still hunting 

 in the Tati district, where we rejoined them again in 

 the beginning of November. During this period 

 the chief object of our pursuit was the giraffe, about 

 which I will here take the opportunity of saying a 

 few words. 



This animal, though its range has been sadly 

 reduced since the days of Gordon Gumming, is 

 nevertheless still to be found in considerable numbers 

 over a vast extent of country to the south of the 

 Zambesi river. In parts of the Kalahari desert it is 

 said to abound, and in all the dry sandy district 

 between Bamangwato and Lake Ngami, and thence 

 to the Mababe, Chobe, and Zambesi rivers, it is also 

 very numerous. Along portions of the Botletlie 

 river, and in the waterless but forest-clad sand-belts 

 on the southern bank of the Chobe, it is particularly 

 plentiful. In the country between the Chobe and 

 the Zambesi the giraffe is also found, in the 

 neighbourhood of Linyanti ; but is not nearly so 

 numerous there as on the other side of the former 

 river. Immediately north of the Zambesi it is 

 unknown, though it appears to be plentiful in parts 

 of Central and Eastern Africa. In some parts of the 

 Matabele country it is also common, but until within 

 the last few years was never found eastwards of the 

 river Gwelo, though it was always very plentiful in 

 the sand-belts to the westward of that river. This 

 fact is the more curious since the soil, vegetation, 

 and general appearance of the country are precisely 

 similar on both sides of the river, which during a 

 great portion of the year is only a succession of pools, 

 and therefore does not offer the slightest obstacle to 

 any animal desirous of crossing it. During the last three 

 or four years a few giraffe have extended their range 



