THE GIRAFFE 63 



forelegs in little short jerks, so as to get their long necks 

 down to the water. They appear to be absolutely silent 

 animals. Sight, scent and hearing are very acute, and 

 their curious rolling pace, caused by the fore and hind 

 legs of the same side being moved together, takes them 

 over the ground at a great speed. When standing still 

 amongst the trees they are extraordinarily difficult to 

 distinguish, indeed the head, peering over the top, is 

 often the first part of the animal to catch the eye. 



Although the giraffe is a very defenceless and timid 

 animal, his great size renders him, when full grown, to a 

 large extent safe from all enemies except man. During 

 eight years in the Transvaal Game Reserves, I met with 

 only one authenticated instance of a giraffe having been 

 killed by lions. This was an old solitary bull, and four 

 or five of them took part in his death. Until protected 

 by legislation, however, giraffes suffered dreadfully from 

 the attacks of human hunters both European and native, 

 for the tails were worth, amongst the east coast natives, 

 the equivalent of one pound sterling each, and the hides 

 were most valuable for making sjamboks, as well as the 

 lashes of the long whips used with the ox-wagons. To 

 this day one meets everywhere in the Sabi Bush with the 

 old shin bones of these animals, showing how numerous 

 they must once have been. 



From a purely sporting point of view there is little in 

 favour of shooting a giraffe ; he is so gentle that there is 

 no excitement connected with the matter, so big that 

 it takes no skill to hit him, and in addition he furnishes 

 no trophy which is worth preserving. In old South 

 African days the wasteful method of hunting the animals 

 on horseback was, of course, intensely exciting, owing to 

 the rough country the chase often led over, but since at 

 the present day there is no room for such practices, the 



