GIRAFFE. 295 



except to drink, or to pick up some unusual delicacy. The eyes 

 of the Giraffe are full, dark, and lustrous ; and are so prominent, 

 that they command, without the animal moving its head, a sur- 

 vey of the whole horizon. The ears are long, pointed, and 

 movable ; and the sense of hearing is very acute. When warned, 

 through these channels, of the approach of danger, the Giraffe 

 seeks safety in flight; and awkward as its movements seem, 

 when it is slowly traversing a limited space of ground, they are 

 far from being so on its native plains ; for it is there a match for 

 the swiftest coursers of the desert, whilst on rugged and broken 

 ground these are utterly unable to overtake it. The peculiarity 

 of its movements results from the shortness of its body in com- 

 parison with the limbs ; so that the hind-hoofs are brought at 

 each step as far forward, as the spot occupied during the pre- 

 vious moment by the fore-hoofs, though somewhat to the 

 outside of it, as the hind-limbs rather diverge from each other. 

 The legs of either side move at the same time with each other, 

 alternating with those of the opposite side, so as to give the pace 

 termed the amble ( ANIM. PHYSIOL., 660). When attacked by 

 enemies from which it cannot escape, the Giraffe defends itself 

 by kicking ; and the blows it inflicts succeed one another so 

 rapidly, that the eye can scarcely follow the movement. The 

 traveller Le Vaillant, from whose observations we may date our 

 first correct knowledge of this animal, says, " I know beyond a 

 doubt, that it often tires out, discourages, and even beats off 

 the lion/' After his dogs had brought an individual to bay, they 

 dared not make an attack, on account of the rapid succession of 

 kicks with which it defended itself. The horns appear never to 

 be used in resisting an attack ; although the Giraffes have been 

 observed to butt each other with them in sport. Two varieties 

 of this curious animal are known, one of them peculiar to 

 Nubia, Abyssinia, and the adjacent districts, the other a native 

 of Southern Africa. They have been regarded by some Natural- 

 ist as distinct species ; but this is probably an error. 



264. The ANTELOPID^:, or Antelope tribe, approach the Deer 

 in their general conformation, as well as in the activity of their 

 habits. This family, which is remarkable for the slenderness of 



