GIRAFFE. 



633 



be considered as families, or any other associations 

 than those arising from simple attachment of the spe- 

 cies to each other, upon the common principle of so- 

 ciality among gregarious animals. This circumstance, 

 together with the mildness of these majestic creatures, 

 renders it highly probable that they might be domes- 

 ticated by proper treatment ; and though the best 

 use to which a giraffe could be turned is rather an 

 indeterminate problem in domestic economy, there 

 is no question as to the great ornament which these 

 animals would afford, if it were possible to breed them, 

 or even to keep them, in collections of ornamental 

 animals. It is probable, however, that before this 

 could be done, they would have to pass through suc- 

 cessive gradations of climate, and that even then the 

 experiment might prove a failure. 



Giraffes do not appear to live in the very close 

 forests, near the river banks, where the giant vegeta- 

 tion of Africa has its growth. Their locality is rather 

 in those places which may be considered as holding a 

 mean proportion between the excess of tropical vege- 

 tation and the final sterility of the plantless wilder- 

 ness. Those confines of the forests which are on the 

 margins of the deserts and karoos, seem to be their 

 chief localities. Those places are generally scat- 

 tered over with trees, chiefly acacias, which do not 

 form a perfect brush of underwood at the bottom, 

 as is the case with the shrubs nearer the desert or 

 the plain, and which brushy woodlands answer better 

 for sheltering a lion or other powerful beast of prey, 

 than the acacias in questioi.. Still these acacias do 

 not grow to any considerable height ; and the young 

 branches are pendent and succulent, and it is upon 

 them that the giraffes subsist, at least for a consider- 

 able portion of the year, for that portion when the 

 ground under them is destitute of verdure and hard- 

 ened like a brick. 



Under ordinary circumstances, the giraffes browse 

 their favourite acacias in peace and safety. It is 

 true that the poisoned arrow of the Bushman some- 

 times finds them in these places, by his stealing upon 

 them from tree to tree, till he gets within range ; but 

 probably this happens less frequently than in the case 

 of any other African game. The eyes of the giraffe 

 are, as we have said, admirably placed for keeping 

 watch against danger from behind ; and the stem of 

 the tree which the animal is browsing, forms no bad 

 defence to it in front. Then, if it is once alarmed, and 

 trots or ambles off at its peculiar pace, which though, 

 as mentioned by the old bishop of Sicca, it has a 

 shambling appearance, is yet very swift, and it is one 

 of those species of motion which an animal can con- 

 tinue for a long time. And if the giraffe is once 

 alarmed and takes to flight, it is not very safe any 

 more than very easy, to attempt coming up with him ; 

 but the reason of this we can notice to more advan- 

 tage by and bye. 



The lion appears to be the only wild animal of 

 which the giraffe needs to have any fear ; and as the 

 lion attacks only from an ambuscade, like the Bush- 

 man, the same defence, or watchful protection, which 

 guards against the one, serves also to guard against 

 the other. The lion does not in general prey at 

 those hours when the giraffe is feeding ; and il 

 he did, he could not spring upon the giraffe in any 

 way but from behind, as there is the protection of the 

 tree in front. It is said also, that even the claws ol 

 the lion, unless when he can get upon the ridge of the 

 animal, and bold on upon both sides do not penetrate 



so far into the very hard skin of the giraffe, as to pre- 

 vent that animal from shaking him off; and if it should 

 succeed in this, the fate of the lion is as certainly 

 sealed as when the elephant stamps, kneels, or other- 

 wise crushes him to death, though it is sealed in a 

 manner somewhat different. The defence of the 

 iraffe is kicking ; and from the vigour of its muscles, 

 the length of its legs, and the consequent velocity of 

 the hoot, when it comes to the position in which it 

 can take effect, the kick is a truly formidable one, and 

 it can be repeated with great celerity. The full effect 

 of one kick is said to be sufficient to break the skull 

 of a lion, strong as it is, and this is by no means un- 

 likely, for the stroke of the kangaroo, which is a much 

 lighter animal, can break the skull of a dog. The eye 

 of the giraffe also sees to the rear, and can guide this 

 its formidable weapon, both as to the time and the 

 direction of the stroke ; so that there is danger to 

 any thing that may come within its reach. Even if 

 the first kick should not be fatal, another can be made 

 to follow so soon, that the stunned foe is killed or 

 crippled before he can recover himself. The animal 

 does not appear, however, to put this powerful wea- 

 pon to the proof, except in cases of necessity ; for its 

 first attempt at safety is flight, and that is in most 

 cases sufficient. 



The times at which the lion is said to attack these 

 animals with the greatest chance of success is, when 

 they seek the water-courses for the purpose of drink- 

 ing. This is usually in the morning ; and the lion 

 lies in wait at some place more elevated than that of 

 his intended prey. When it reaches down for the 

 purpose of drinking, all the advantage which its 

 eye gives it when the neck is elevated is gone ; and 

 from the position of the fore-legs during this opera- 

 tion, it could not kick with the same force which it 

 does when on the level ground, and in full command 

 of itself. In this situation, the lion sometimes suc- 

 ceeds in fastening upon its back ; and though the 

 animal bounds off with great speed, the weight of the 

 lion, and the pain of the laceration, which he inflicts 

 both by claws and teeth, ultimately bring it to the 

 ground, and when once there it is altogether helpless. 

 Sometimes, too, when the giraffe, finding its food 

 become scanty in those more open places which it 

 frequents at other times, seeks the beds of the streams 

 for such trees as may still remain there in a state suf- 

 ficiently succulent for its subsistence, the lion, who 

 has been crouching in a bush upon some commanding 

 point, will sometimes spring to the attack, and chiefly 

 from his elevation above the giraffe, succeeds in 

 making it his prey. In general, however, we believe 

 we may repeat that, with the exception of the elephant, 

 which the lion seldom attacks, and of the rhinoceros, 

 and the hippopotamus, which set him at complete de- 

 fiance, or rather are perfectly indifferent to him in the 

 peculiarity of their habitations, and the strong mail of 

 their skins, the giraffe is less preyed upon than any 

 other animal. 



The giraffe, however, has its head quarters in a 

 country which is very little known to modern travel- 

 lers ; as it has at most been visited only on the con- 

 fines. Its principal country appears to lie nearly in 

 the direction of the meridian, about twenty degrees 

 east longitude from Greenwich ; and it is rarely found 

 near the coast along the whole extent. Although 

 therefore the animal itself is now well known, its 

 manners in those wild forests are to a great extent 

 matters of mere guess-work, upon which it would be 



