G1RAFFA. 



GIRAKFA. 



10S4 



In the ' MuMum Tradesoantiniim ' (1656), at the end of the second 

 action, " Four-footed beast*, with some hide*, borne*, hoofes," we 

 find " divers horns answering to those by authors attributed to the 

 Jbcs, (raztlla, llti'ixlaphtu, Traydapkiu, Cervta palmatut, Camelo- 

 panialit, ic." 



In LudolTs ' -Ethiopia,' of which there is a curious translation, 

 ' made English by J. P., Gent ' (1 682), the following paragraph appears 

 in the chapter ' of four-footed beasts ' : " The next is the C'am</o- 

 pardali,, or Panther-Camel, which is not " (as big) " and bulkie as the 

 elephant, but far exceeds him in tallness. For this beast is so very 

 high that a man of a just statue (stature) reaches but up to bis 

 knees, so that it seems very credible what is reported, that a man on 

 horseback, sitting upright on his saddle, may ride under his belly. 

 He derives his name from hence, that he has a long head and a long 

 neck like a camel, but a skin s|H>tted all over like a panther. The 

 Romans, when they first beheld this beast, called it a wild sheep, 

 tho' being more remarkable for its aspect then (than) its wildness or 

 fierceness, as we read in Pliny. By the Abissines, by reason of the 

 mallness of his tayl, he is called Jerata-Kaein, that is, Slender 

 Tayl ; by the Italians Giraffa, from the Arabian word Zucaffa 

 (Zuraffa?)." 



Hasselquist, who travelled in the years 1749-50-51-52, mentions, in 

 his ' Voyages and Travels,' the Cervut Camdopardalit. The Camel- 

 Deer, lielon. ; Camclopardalii Girafa, Alpin., Egypt, Zurnap, Arab. 

 " The colour of the whole body, head, and legs of this animal is 

 variegated," says the traveller, "with dark brown spots; the spots 

 are as large as the palm of a man's hand, of an irregular figure, and 

 in the living animal are of various shades. This deer is of the bigness 

 of a small camel ; the whole length from the upper lip to the tail is 

 24 spans. It is met with in the shady and thick woods of Senaar 

 and -Ethiopia. N.B. This is a most elegant and docile animal ; it has 

 been seen by very few natural historians, and indeed scarcely by 

 any except Bellonius; but none have given a perfect description 

 or good figure of it I have only seen the skin of the animal, and 

 have not yet had an opportunity of beholding it alive." In the 

 ' Act Upsal.' the same zoologist gives a very minute description of 

 the animal * 



Brisson gave it a generic station, under the name of Girafa, in the 

 first section of his fifth order, consisting of those quadrupeds which 

 have no incisor teeth in the upper jaw, but eight in the lower, and the 

 hoof divided. This first section contains those genera which have 

 simple horns; and, besides the Giraffe, comprises the goats, the sheep, 

 and the oxen. 



Our countryman, John Ray, places the Giraffe under his Cerrinum 

 genus, the fourth of his ruminants, with the deer, as the title implies. 



Linnaeus, in the last edition of his 'Systema Naturse' (1766), gives 

 the Giraffe as the first species of his genus Cervut, or Cermu Camelo- 

 pardalit, and describes it as being a Cervta with very simple horns, 

 and the fore legs or feet longest " C. cornibus simplicissimis, pedibus 

 anticis longiasimis." The habitat he gives as Ethiopia and Senaar, 

 and adds, that the animal even then was obscure, and that it is 

 sprinkled with white spots like fawns: "Animal etiamnunc obscurum, 

 adspersum mactilis albis, ut oervi juniores." He alludes to its grazing 

 with divaricated legs, but says that its principal food consists of the 

 leaves of tree*. 



A drawing, which appears to have been a mere rude sketch, nothing 

 worth, together with a notice of the Giraffe, was brought under the 

 observation of the Academie des Sciences (1764). This drawing and 

 notice related to one of these animals which had been found during a 

 journey made in 1762, as far as two hundred leagues northward of the 

 Cape of Good Hope. liuffon notices this as extending the geogra- 

 phical distribution of the Giraffe, which had been confined to Ethiopia 

 by Thevenot and the majority of writers ; but this is the principal 

 contribution to the history of the animal in the count's article, which 

 is indeed learned and eloquent, but erroneous in many point*, and 

 unnecessarily severe on Hasselquist for the dryness and imperfection 

 of his description. Buffon gives the description of tho Swedish 

 naturalist in a note, and though there may be some obscurity in the 

 part relating to the horns when read by one who had never seen the 

 animal and of this BuObn particularly complains that very part 

 hows the accuracy of HasseUnuMt For instance, Haaselquist, after 

 describing the hairs round the edge of the top of the horns, says, 

 " Apex cornuum in medio horum pilorum obtusus, nudus " (the apex 

 of the horns in the midst of these hairs is obtuse and naked), thus 

 conveying in a few words the real condition of that part of the 

 structure, and showing the acutenem of his observation. But Buffon 

 had no very great love for Linnams or his pupils ; and Bparrman, in 

 his Voyage to the Cape,' attacks the French zoologist in no measured 

 terms, exposing with a rough hand his blunders, and appearing 

 resolved to appease the mnnes of the meritorious Hasselquist for the 

 insult of the count Buffon's figure is bad, particularly about the 

 horns, and the mane is too long. 



mereh.nl, bevnn In October, IS84, ended In October, 1003, with nn hl.torlc.ll 



dncripUon of Cmuunllnoplr." The MCOIU! vojrage to Constantinople >ppe>n 



r commenced In 1491, and Samlerwm arrived there on Palni.sim.1iiy, 



ere," T be, " then I remained tint or ercn veere*. In which time I had 



the riew of muiy .nlmI." After enumerating nomc, be commence* the 



puigraph which we hare giten la the preceding p*|*. 



The description of M. Allamand, in his supplement to Buffou's 

 account, taken from the specimen sent by M. Tulbagh, governor of 

 the Cape of Good Hope, and preserved at Leyden, well supplies the 

 defects of Buffon, and he gives accurate measurement*. We would 

 particularly call attention to the following observations of M. Alla- 

 mand : " Although the boms are solid like those of a deer, I doubt 

 whether they are shed like them : they seem to be an excrescence of 

 the os fronton, like the bone which serves for the core of the hollow 

 horns of oxen and of goats, and it is scarcely possible that they can be 

 detached. If my doubt is well founded, the Giraffe will be a peculiar 

 genus (un genre particulier) differing from all those under which are 

 comprehended the animals who shed their horns and those whose 

 horns are hollow but permanent" Again, he says, "the adult giraffes 

 have in the middle of their forehead a tubercle which seems to be tha 

 commencement of a third horn : this tubercle does not appear upon 

 the head of our specimen, which probably was as yet too young to 

 show it" M. Allamand also remarks that in this young Kprrimrn the 

 height of the posterior legs equals that of the anterior, and that the 

 mane is three inches in length. 



In 'Phil. Trans.' (voL Ix. p. 27) is the following 'Letter on a 

 Camelopardalis found about the Cape of Good Hope, from Captain 

 Carteret to Matthew Maty, M.D., Sec. R. 8.,' dated on board of the 

 Swallow, Deptford, April 20, 1769 read January 25, 1770: 



" Sir, Inclosed I have sent you the drawing of a Catnelopardalis 

 (Tab. 1), as it was taken off, from life, of one near the Cape of Good 

 Hope. I shall not attempt here to give you any particular description 

 of this scarce and curious animal, as it is much better known to you 

 than it can be to me ; but from its scarcity, as I believe none have 

 been seen in Europe since Julius Casar's time (when I think there 

 were two of them at Rome), I imagine its drawing and a more certain 

 knowledge of its reality will not be disagreeable to you. As tha 

 existence of this fine animal has been doubted by many, if you think 

 it may afford any pleasure to the curious, you will make what use of 

 it you please. 



" The present governor of the Cape of Good Hope has sent out 

 parties of men on inland discoveries, some of which have been absent 

 from eighteen mouths to two years, in which traverse they liavu 

 discovered many curiosities, which it is to be hoped they will in con- 

 venient time communicate to the world. One of these parties crossed 

 many mountains and plains, in one of which they found two of 

 these creatures, but they only caught the young oue, of which the 

 inclosed is the drawing, as it was taken off by them ; they endeavoured 

 to bring it alive to the Cape Town, but unfortunately it died. They 

 took off his skin, which they brought as a confirmation of the truth, 

 and it has been sent to Holland. These particulars, as well as the 

 drawing, I got from Mr. Barrawke, first secretary to the Dutch Com- 

 pany at that place, in the presence of the governor. I am, Sir, your 

 most humble, most obedient servant, 



" PH. CAKTEBET." 



To this is appended the following note : 



"The animal described in this letter is now in the Cabinet of 

 Natural History at Leyden, where I have seen it this year. 



" M. MATY." 



Then comes the figure, and opposite to it, p. 29 : 



"Dimensions of a male Camelopardalii, killed in a journey made 

 in the year 1761, through the country of a tribe of Hottentots called 

 the Momacquas : 



Ft. In. 



" Length of the head 18 



Height of the fore leg, from the lower to the higher 



part 10 



From the upper part of tho fore leg to the top of 



the head 70 



From the upper part of tho fore leg to the upper 



port of the hind leg 56 



From the upper part of the hind leg to the tail . 1 6 

 Height of the hind leg from the upper to the lower 



part 85" 



Pennant, in the first edition (1771) of his 'Synopsis of Quadrupeds,' 

 shows to what extent the doubts of the animal's existence had been 

 carried; for, after adverting to its locality, "the forests of Ethiopia 

 and other interior parts of Africa," and its habits, he proceeds : " I 

 saw the skin of a young one at Leyden well stuffed and preserved ; 

 otherwise I might possibly have entertained doubts in respect to tho 

 existence of so extraordinary a quadruped. Belon's figure is vrry 

 good." The specimen here alluded to was most probably that men- 

 tioned by M. Allamand and in Captain Carteret's letter. 



Tho tmvels of Dr. Spun-man occupied a period from the year 1772 

 to 1776. Ho gives Allamand's description, and adds the following : 

 " This animal, when it goes fast, does not limp, as some have imagined, 

 but sometimes paces and sometimes gallops. Every time it lift? up 

 its fore feet it throws its neck back, which on other occasions it holds 

 erect; notwithstanding this, it is by no means slow when pursued, as 

 M. de Buffon supposes it to be, but, on the contrary, it requires a fleet 

 hone to hunt it. In eating the grass from off the ground it some- 

 times bends oue of its knees, as horses do ; and, in plucking leaves 

 and small branches from high trees it brings its fore feet about a foot 



