5/0 UNGULATA 



The mane is streaked fawn-color and brown, the front of the ears is 

 white, the back brownish ; the tufts of hair are black. Males, when they 

 grow old, become darker; the females lighter, as if bleached. 



The Giraffe is a silent animal, and has never been heard to utter a 

 sound even when in the agonies of death. In its native land it is so 

 strongl}' perfumed with the foliage on which it feeds, that it exhales 

 a powerful ochjr, which is compared by Gordon Gumming to the scent 

 of a hive of heather honey. 



In the present day, the Giraffe inhabits Africa, between the 17th 

 degree north latitude, and 24th degree south latitude, commencing with 

 the southern border of the Sahara, and ending at the Orange River. It 

 is found in .\byssinia, Darfoiir, Kordofan, and on the White Nue, but 

 does not appear in Senegambia, or on the Congo. Its home is on the 

 wide plains, and is defined by the growth of various kinds of mimosa. It 

 is never seen in mountainous or forest-clacl districts. 



In its native haunts, the marvellous adaptation of the animal to its 

 abode is clearly perceptible. " When one sees a herd of Giraffes," writes 

 Gordon Gumming, " in a grove of the picturesque spreading mimosas 

 which ornament the plains, and of which it can reach the topmost twigs, 

 one must be lost to all sense of natural beauty if the sight is not an 

 attractive one." All other observers agree in this remark. " No animal 

 in the whole world," says Baker, "is so picturesque as the Giraffe in its 

 native dwelling-place." The harmony in color between the animal and 

 the trees on which it browses is striking. " Often have I," says Gumming, 

 "been in doubt respecting the presence of a whole herd of Giraffes till I 

 examined them with a telescope : even my native attendants confessed 

 that their sharp trained eyes were, at times, deceived ; they often took 

 the tree stems for Giraffes, and Giraffes for old trees." When they are 

 seen on the treeless plain, at the edge of the horizon, when the evening 

 sunlight is shining, they seem supernatural creatures. Usually they are 

 found in small troops of six or eight, Init occasionally, where it feels 

 itself safe, in larger numbers. Gordon Gumming met bands of thirty 

 and forty, but gives the average number as sixteen. Baker saw herds of 

 sixty to hundred. Brehm never saw more than three together. 



The movements of the Giraffe are peculiar. It is seen to most 

 advantage when walking quietly ; it is then dignified and graceful. It 

 advances with a slow, measured pace, moving the two legs of the same 

 side. When galloping it is by no means graceful. " The Giraffes when 



