THE GIRAFFE AT BAY 427 



exultation, and, unsaddling my steed, sank exhausted beside the 

 noble prize I had won. 



" When I leisurely contemplated the massive frame before me, 

 seeming as though it had been cast in a mould of brass, and 

 protected by a hide of an inch and a half in thickness, it was 

 no longer matter of astonishment that a bullet, discharged from 

 a distance of eighty or ninety yards, should have been attended 

 with little effect upon such amazing strength. The spell was 

 now broken, and the secret of cameleopard-hunting discovered. 

 The next day Eichardson and myself killed three ; one, a female, 

 slipping upon muddy ground, and falling with great violence 

 before she had been wounded, a shot in the head despatched her 

 as she lay. From this time we could reckon confidently upon 

 two out of each troop that we were fortunate enough to find, 

 always approaching as near as possible in order to ensure 

 a good start, galloping into the middle of them, boarding the 

 largest, and riding with him until he fell." 



After man, the giraffe's chief enemy is the lion, who often 

 waits for it in the thick brakes on the margin of the rivers or 

 pools, and darts upon it with a murderous spring while it is 

 slaking its thirst. Andersson once saw five lions, two of whom 

 were in the act of pulling down a splendid giraffe, while the 

 other three were watching close at hand the issue of the 

 deadly strife ; and Captain Harris relates that, while he was 

 encamped on the banks of a small stream, a cameleopard was 

 killed by a lion whilst in the act of drinking, at no great distance 

 from the wagons. It was a noisy affair ; but an inspection of the 

 scene on which it occurred proved that the giant strength of 

 the victim had been paralysed in an instant. 



Sometimes the giraffe saves itself from the attacks of its 

 arch-enemy by a timely flight ; but when hemmed in, it offers a 

 desperate resistance, and in spite of its naturally gentle and 

 peaceable disposition, gives such desperate kicks with its fore- 

 feet as to keep its antagonist at a respectful distance, and 

 finally to compel him to retreat. 



The Grreeks and Romans were well acquainted with the giraffe ; 

 and Aristotle, describing it under the name of hippardion, 

 or panther horse, probably knew it better than Buffon, who never 

 saw more of it than a stuffed skin. Pliny relates that Julius 

 fesar (45 B.C.) first exhibited it to the Romans in the amphi- 



