THE BIG GAME OF AFRICA 



stopped in the twilight, seeing a small object falling down 

 from the branches of a mimosa tree. In the twinkling of 

 an eye I saw an animal run up in the tree, only to drop 

 down again the next second like a ball into the high grass. 

 My first thought was to take the shotgun and bring the 

 animal down, but fearing that the giraffe might be in the 

 vicinity and take alarm from the crack of the gun, I whis- 

 pered to some of the natives to rush forward the next 

 time the animal fell to the ground and throw themselves 

 over it. They did so, far quicker than I could imagine, 

 for the next moment one of the men rose from the grass 

 holding between his hands a beautiful Civet cat, which 

 had injured him considerably with its sharp claws and 

 teeth. 



I was right in my supposition about the giraffe, for 

 we had only gone forward some fifteen minutes more, 

 when I saw a large giraffe head towering above a good- 

 sized mimosa tree some five hundred yards away. By 

 this time it was light enough both to shoot and to take 

 photographs, and, as I was very anxious to have this mag- 

 nificent animal " kodaked " before it should fall, I ordered 

 my men to throw themselves flat on the ground, and with 

 only Mr. Lang, the expedition's taxidermist and photog- 

 rapher, and one gun bearer, I approached the giraffe as 

 carefully as possible. When within about one hundred and 

 fifty yards, the giraffe had caught a glimpse of us from 

 his exalted viewpoint and started to walk away with long 

 strides before it was possible for Mr. Lang to snap him 

 with his camera. I then raised my .405 Winchester and 

 fired, aiming at his heart, but the giraffe continued his 

 walk as if nothing had happened. I fired a second and a 



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