AYith Flashlight and Rifle ^ 



of the plains. The whole unwieldy bodies of the animals 

 swing backwards and forwards, their necks swaying like 

 masts on a moving sea. They whisk their tails backwards 

 and forwards when fleeing, or when their suspicion is 

 awakened. After one shot the whole herd falls into a 

 quick, sharp trot for a few moments, always flapping their 

 tails most energetically. I am of opinion that by means 

 of this flapping and whisking of tails the giraffes are able 

 to communicate with and understand one another, and 

 this theory has much to be said for it in view of the 

 absolute dumbness of these animals. Even at a distance 

 one notices the extraordinarily expressive eyes of the 

 giraffe, and it is easy to believe that the animal is chiefly 

 dependent upon them for its safety. 



Dr. Zell concludes that giraffes have no sense of 

 smell from the fact that when in captivity they try 

 to eat the artificial flowers on the hats of the lady 

 visitors ; but this does not tally with my experience 

 of the way in which they take to flight when one ap- 

 proaches them with an unfavourable wind. Deer, when 

 in captivity, also seize eagerly upon paper and other stuff, 

 and the desire for the artificial leaves in the ladies' hats 

 can easily be explained by hunger engendered by the 

 unnatural food with which giraffes are fed in captivity. 



The poise of a giraffe's head is sometimes very 

 expressive of curiosity and enquiry. The extremely 

 grotesque appearance of the animal is never so noticeable 

 as when it is seen standing sharp against the horizon, not 

 unlike a high bare tree-trunk. Giraffes communicate 

 with one another by the carriage of the neck and the 



