THE NORTHERN GIRAFFE IO5 



the fifteenth century the " Soldan of Egypt " sent 

 one to Lorenzo di Medici. 



(c) Modern period. Another blank intervened, 

 and men again began to question the existence of 

 the giraffe : but all doubts were permanently 

 dispelled by Lieutenant Paterson, who had been 

 commissioned by Lady Strathmore to botanise in 

 the then unknown region of Caffraria. He sent 

 home an immature male specimen of the southern 

 giraffe which he had shot : this example was pre- 

 sented by Lady Strathmore to John Hunter the 

 celebrated surgeon, and the skull with some of the 

 bones is still in the Royal College of Surgeons' 

 Museum. After exhibition in the College of 

 Surgeons' collection, Lieutenant Paterson 's giraffe 

 was eventually acquired by the British Museum, 

 and was still extant, though in bad condition, as 

 late as 1843 a historic relic which had in its 

 day marked the dawn of a new era of scientific 

 activity. 1 



In 1827 the existence of the giraffe in North 

 Africa was practically demonstrated by the Pasha 

 of Egypt (Mohammed AH) who sent one to 

 Windsor for George IV. and another to Paris, 

 where the animal created quite a sensation, dense 

 crowds of over 10,000 persons flocking to see 



i The southern giraffe had previously been seen (1761-2) by Brink 

 and Hop, who were travelling in Namaqualand by orders of Governor 

 Tulbagh. 



