SHOOTING GIRAFFES. 355 
thick roots of a tree or bush, and the whole trap is then 
covered over with earth and leaves. When an animal puts 
his foot into the hole through the ring he cannot withdraw 
it without pulling out the wooden hoop, owing to the 
sharp-pointed spikes, and thus the noose is tightened. 
We made two marches, of nearly nine hours each, in a 
southerly direction, after leaving Lasamis, winding through 
a series of flat valleys with sandy soil and plenty of bush. 
We were out of the volcanic region, and granite and a 
coarse green stone took the place of the iron pyrites. The 
hills were flat-topped, and rose about three hundred feet 
above the valleys, so that these latter had the appearance of 
having been washed out by water. Water was to be found 
at intervals of about every fifteen miles by digging in the 
beds of tugs, under dhum palms. Just before we camped, 
at the end of the second day, I saw a herd of eight giraffes 
a half-mile away; but they had evidently scented us, and 
were making off at a rapid pace with that graceful, ship- 
like motion peculiar to these animals. They were 
scarcely out of sight when two more giraffes appeared on 
a hill a thousand yards away. Both Dodson and I were 
sadly in need of boots, and my boys were equally in want of 
sandals. I had always refrained from shooting at giraffes 
unnecessarily, and especially when they were far away and 
there was danger of only wounding them. But this time 
we were so anxious to obtain one of these thick-skinned 
animals that I could not resist the temptation to take a 
chance shot. 
The two giraffes stood out in bold relief from among the 
bushes, and remained quite motionless as I put my .577 to 
my shoulder. I elevated the sight a good inch above the 
larger of the two animals, and, aiming in a line with its 
loner 
oo 
shoulder, pulled the trigger. The beautiful beast raised 
e 
itself on its hind-legs, plunged about a little, and then tried 
