A TIMELY ARRIVAL. IOI 



demeanor as she followed her captors, that she was an unwilling member of the 

 company. 



Bob and Pongo rode at the rear of tne strange procession, studying the animals, 

 which, you will admit, are among the most interesting of those found in the Dark 

 Continent. 



I am quite sure you have formed the opinion that the fore legs of the giraffe are 

 much longer than the hind ones, when, in truth, they are about the same in length, 

 as you can see from the representation of a skeleton of one of them. In walking, 

 the neck is stretched in a line with the back, and the animal looks very awkward, 

 but this disappears when it runs. It lifts its hind legs alternately with the fore, 

 and they are carried outside and far beyond them. Under a full gallop, the fore 

 legs are stiff in rising and falling. It prefers the open country, and loves to wander 

 in large herds over the plains of Nubia, Abyssinia and South Africa. 



When he wishes to eat something on the ground, his posture is the most awkward 

 imaginable. He spreads his fore legs far apart, his hind ones retaining their usual 

 position, and thus manages to grasp the twig, or grass, in front of him. 



The giraffe is the sole living representative of the Camelopardalidce family, and, 

 unlike the deer, has no supplementary hoofs on its feet, nor has it any canine teeth. 



The male and female have each two short frontal horns, covered with hairy skin, 

 ending in a tuft of hairs. Their color is a light yellow, with large brown spots. 

 The tallest specimen I ever saw was about eighteen feet, which is a third higher 

 than the late lamented Jumbo, the largest animal ever known. 



