THE GIRAFFE 921 



the gemsbok and eland, the giraffe frequents more or less desert-like regions, but 

 of late years its range has been greatly restricted, more especially in South and 

 Central Africa, where Mr. Bryden considers that it will be almost exterminated 

 within the next twenty years. 



Writing in the year 1881, Mr. Selous states that the giraffe was at that time 

 ' ' still to be found in considerable numbers, over a vast extent of country to the 

 south of the Zambezi river. In parts of the Kalahari desert it is said to abound, 

 and in all the dry, sandy district between Bawangwalo and L,ake Ngami, and thence 

 to the Mabebi, Chobe, and Zambezi rivers, it is also very numerous. Along por- 

 tions of the Botlebi river, and in the waterless but forest-clad sand belts on the 

 southern bank of the Chobe, it is particularly plentiful. In the country between the 

 Chobe and the Zambezi, the giraffe is also found in the neighborhood of Linyanti, 

 but is not nearly so numerous there as on the other side of the former river. Imme- 

 diately north of the Zambezi it is unknown, although it appears to be plentiful in 

 parts of Central and Eastern Africa. In some parts of the Matabele country it is 

 also common, but till within the last few years was never found eastward of the 

 river Gwelo (a tributary of the Zambezi north of Matabeleland), though it was 

 always very plentiful in the sand belts to the westward of that river. This fact is 

 the more curious since the soil, vegetation, and general appearance of the country 

 are precisely similar on both sides of the river, which, during a great portion of the 

 year, is only a succession of pools, and therefore does not offer the slightest obstacle 

 to any animal desirous of crossing it. During the last three or four years a few 

 giraffes have extended their range further eastward." 



Since the above was written, Mr. Bryden states that giraffes have practically 

 disappeared from large areas to the south of the Zambezi, and their headquarters 

 are now the parched desert country forming the North Kalahari. Probably giraffes 

 are most abundant in the districts lying immediately south of the Botlebi river on 

 the northern border of the Kalahari desert. Most of this district is quite waterless 

 for a great portion of the year, and cannot be hunted without water carts accompany- 

 ing the party. Here giraffes may frequently be seen in parties of fifteen or twenty, 

 while it is stated that as many as seventy or eighty have been observed together. 

 To the east of the Kalahari, in Khama's country, giraffes are not uncommon, as is also 

 the case in parts of the Chobe valley, while in Matabeleland and Mashonaland they are 

 scarce. Southward of the Limpopo, these animals have been completely exterminated. 



The circumstance that the hide of a bull giraffe now fetches from twenty to 

 twenty-five dollars in the market has been the main cause of the incessant persecution 

 to which these splendid animals have been subjected. It is probable that in Southern 

 Africa they will linger longest in the more inaccessible portions of the Kalahari, 

 while they are likewise likely to persist in the deserts of Kordofan and the Sudan. 

 The giraffes inhabiting the North Kalahari desert cannot, according 

 to Mr. Brydeu, touch water for some seven or eight months of the 

 year, and the same is true in regard to those found in other waterless districts. 

 Hence the bushmen state that these animals never drink at all. This, however, is 

 disproved by the following quotation from Mr. Selous, who writes that on a certain 

 occasion he reached camp "a little before sundown, just in time to see three tall, 



