THE GIRAFFE. 340 



Description, &c. 



and had he not been extremely active in rising, 

 and getting out of her reach, she would certainly 

 have destroyed him. She died in the month of 

 June, 1 805 ; and her skin is now in the posses- 

 sion of the keeper, though too much decayed to 

 admit of its being stuffed. 



THE GIRAFFE, OR CJMELOPARD. 



THIS extraordinary quadruped is only found 

 in the sequestered desarts of Ethiopia, and other 

 interior parts of Africa, and even there it has 

 been so seldom seen by European travellers, that 

 its existence has been frequently doubted, prior 

 to the minute and interesting accounts of modern 

 travellers. Its head nearly resembles that of the 

 horse, but is furnished with erect horns,, about 

 six inches long; each of these is blunt, as though 

 cut off at the end, and covered with a hairy skin, 

 tufted with a brush of coarse black hair. The 

 ears are very long, and the eyes large, lively, 

 and beautiful. The neck is remarkably long 

 and slender, and has on the ridge a short erect 

 mane, which extends along the back nearly to 

 the insertion of the tail. The shoulders are very 

 deep, which has given rise to the vulgar suppo- 

 sition that the fore-legs are longer than the 

 hinder ones ; but this, on examination, proves to 

 be erroneous. When standing with the head 

 and neck perfectly erect, the giraffe measures 

 sixteen or eighteen feet, from the hoof to the 



