GIRAFFES, AND HOW TO CAPTURE THEM 149 



always tlie risk of the young creatures dying. There 

 have been many young giraffes lost on the east coast 

 in recent years after being brought out from the 

 interior at much expense and trouble. Out of six 

 captured by Dutch hunters on the Sabi river at 

 the end of 1894 only one — the female now to be 

 seen in Regent's Park — was preserved alive. The 

 others broke their necks, or perished from rough 

 and ignorant treatment. Any well-to-do English 

 gentleman hunting in Africa — and there are many 

 such — would earn the thanks of the civihzed com- 

 munity, and especially of all lovers of nature and 

 of wild animal life, by devoting some money and 

 a few months of his time to such a capturing expedi- 

 tion as I have indicated. Such a trip would be full 

 of the keenest possible interest, and it goes without 

 saying, that no small measure of excitement would 

 be thrown in. 



Once tamed and brought to England, giraffes do 

 well enough and breed freely, as the records of the 

 Zoological Society show. There is no difficulty in 

 feeding them after the infant stage. In place of 

 their native acacia leaves they will take readily to 

 hay, clover, corn, carrots, onions, and other vegetables. 

 They become fond even of dog-biscuit. I have seen 

 " Bet," the giraffe cow which died some years since 

 at the Zoo, straddle out her fore-legs and bend her long 

 neck time after time to pick up a piece of biscuit 



