21 6 AFRICAN NATURE NOTES chap. 



stopped and then knelt down, in the position of an 

 ox or a camel at rest, and never moved when we 

 rode up and dismounted close to it. " I'll bet you, 

 you won't get on to its back," said my friend. We 

 were both of us very young men then, which 

 perhaps does not excuse the thoughtless cruelty 

 of the act ; but in answer to my friend's challenge 

 I at once vaulted on to the giraffe's back, and sat 

 astride it just behind the withers. Immediately 

 I touched it the startled animal struggled to its feet 

 and started off at a gallop. Clasping it round the 

 neck, I had no difficulty in retaining my seat, and 

 my remembrance is that the motion of my tall steed 

 was easy. I was not carried very far, however, 

 and there were fortunately no trees, but only a 

 low growth of scrubby bush for a good distance 

 in front of us. After carrying me at a swinging 

 canter for a short distance, the giraffe once more 

 knelt gently down, and I hastily dismounted. This 

 giraffe was not mortally wounded, but a bullet had 

 injured its hip or pelvis, though, as far as I can 

 remember, no bone was actually broken. 



The body of an old bull giraffe gives out an 

 excessively strong, pungent odour, which can be 

 smelt by a human being at a considerable distance. 

 These old bulls, which are always so dark in colour 

 that they look almost black, used to be called by 

 the old Boer hunters "stink bulls." The meat of 

 such animals was never eaten by white hunters, but 

 every scrap of it was either consumed when fresh, 

 or dried for future consumption, by one's Kafir or 

 Bushman followers. The tongue of an old bull 

 giraffe, which is the only part of such an animal 

 that I have ever eaten, I have, however, always 

 found to be excellent. 



During the rainy season, when giraffes are able 

 to obtain without much exertion a plentiful supply 

 of sweet and nourishing food, the full-grown cows 



