132 NATURE AND SPORT IN SOUTH AFRICA 



giraffe, carefully roped by each fore-leg, being haled 

 along by some African negroid people. One of these 

 monumental illustrations (a copy of which may be 

 seen in Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson's Manners and 

 Custoins of the Ancient Egyptiaiis) is worthy of 

 note as the first representation in the world's history 

 of the giraffe. The picture was carved no less than 

 8385 years ago, in the reign of Thothmes III (the 

 Pharaoh of the Exodus). Thothmes was a great 

 conqueror, and, as may be seen by his monuments, 

 received offerings of gold, ivory, wood, grain, cattle, 

 apes, elephants, giraffes, and many other animals, 

 from tributary chiefs. 



The carved picture of this giraffe is, all things 

 considered, a really excellent one. Whether the ape, 

 which is depicted cUmbing the tall neck of the 

 creature, is an equally faithful portrayal by the 

 artist, or whether it was merely a jeit d! esprit for 

 the sake of emphasizing the tree-like neck of the 

 giraffe, it would be hard to say. But, considering 

 that a stabled horse can become keenly attached to 

 a domestic cat, and will even permit it to perambu- 

 late and make a resting-place of its back, it requires 

 no great stretch of imagination to suppose that a 

 young tame giraffe might tolerate the attentions of 

 a small monkey. 



It may be laid down as an indisputable axiom 

 that the mature giraffe cannot be captured alive. 



