ioo BIG GAME SHOOTING 



a wonderful one. Whether the giraffes run across 

 open plains, a thing they can seldom be forced into, 

 or through thin forest or denser thorn -bush, the 

 sportsman must now make up his mind to ride his 

 very hardest, and, pressing his pony with spur and 

 sjambok to the top of its speed, force the giraffe 

 beyond their pace at the outset of the hunt. This 

 is the only way to run them down and secure a shot. 

 At their own pace, the pace of a hand gallop, they 

 will run for miles and outstay the hunter. Forced 

 beyond their speed in the first two or three miles of 

 chase, they tire, the hunter gets close up to the stern 

 of the beast he has singled out, and firing from the 

 saddle at a few yards' distance, brings down his game. 

 A solid bullet, planted somewhere about the root of the 

 tail, will easily achieve its purpose ; the giraffe's body 

 is short, and the missile penetrates easily to the heart 

 and lungs. Or, if a leg be broken, the tall beast is at 

 once disabled, and, trying to stagger on in its head- 

 long flight, usually topples over and falls a victim. 



The hunter should remember not to ride too 

 close up to his quarry's hind legs or it may chance 

 that the flying beast may unwittingly deal him or 

 his horse a crushing kick from those wide-straddling 

 limbs. In the same way he should be careful not to 

 ride too near to a wounded giraffe, which, suddenly 

 succumbing to its hurts, may fall crashing upon top 

 of him. As a well-grown giraffe weighs about a 

 ton, such a fall, as may readily be supposed, might 

 have dangerous effects. The giraffe is practically 

 defenceless, but it should be remembered that 



