CHAPTER XI 



GIRAFFES, AND HOW TO CAPTURE THEM 



Present deartli of Giraffes — Arrival of a Soutli African speci- 

 men — Early appearance of Giraffes in history — Zoological 

 Society's first specimens — Giraffe of Tliotlimes III — Paces 

 of Giraffe — Present habitat — Fossil remains — Character- 

 istics of the animal — Marrow-bones — Dentition — Eyesight 

 — Powers of speed — Names and derivations — New form of 

 Giraffe from Somaliland — Curious coloration — Growing 

 scarcity in North Africa — Best country for capture — Cost 

 of procuring specimens — Sketch of expedition. 



For some years past tliere has been an extraordinary 

 dearth of giraffes in European collections and the 

 European markets. The Zoological Society lost 

 in 1892 the last of its two specimens of this 

 gigantic quadruped, and until the year 1895, al- 

 though extremely anxious to again possess itself of 

 examples of a creature so attractive to visitors at the 

 Gardens and so interesting to naturalists, had not 

 succeeded in procuring even a single representative. 

 This fact may be deemed remarkable, when it is 

 remembered that the Society offered £1000 for a 



pair — male and female. It was understood at the 

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