404 THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



on long stilts, its diminutive head fixed at the summit of a 

 column ; and yet, in spite of these disproportions, of so elegant 

 and pleasing an appearance, that it owes its Arabic name, 

 Xirapha, to the graceful ease of its movements. 



The beauty of the giraffe is enhanced by its magnificently 

 spotted skin, and by its soft and gentle eyes, which eclipse even 

 those of the gazelle, and, by their lateral projection, take in a 

 wider range of the horizon than is subject to the vision of any 

 other quadruped, so as even to be able to anticipate a threatened 

 attack in the rear from the stealthy lion or any other foe of the 

 desert. 



GIRAFFES A^D ZEBUAS. 



The long tail, adorned with a bushy tuft of flowing black 

 hair, no doubt renders it good service against many a stinging 

 insect ; and the straight horns, or rather excrescences of the 

 frontal bone, small as they are, and muffled with skin and hair, 

 are by no means the insignificant weapons they have been sup- 

 posed to be. 'We have seen them wielded by the males 

 against each other with fearful and reckless force,' says 

 Maunder, in his excellent 'Dictionary of Animated Nature,' 

 ' and we know that they are the natural arms of the giraff'e 

 most dreaded by the keeper of the present living giraffes in 

 the Zoological Gardens, because they are most commonly and 

 suddenly put in use. The giraff'e does not butt by depressing 

 and suddenly elevating the head, like the deer, ox, or sheep, 

 but strikes the callous obtuse extremity of the horns against 



