Pursuit of Giraffes 203 



have left in the rear, and place it in front of you, to 

 crawl up to your weapon, and then to begin the 

 same movements again. You do not regret your 

 trouble if everything succeeds, but if when two 

 hundred yards from you the giraffes scamper off you 

 are not at all pleased. That was what happened to 

 us the day in question. 



The Barotse hunter assures me, and with reason 

 too, that we were seen, but how not be, unless 

 possessed of the ring of Gyges, on open plains habitu- 

 ally frequented by these animals, whose necks serve 

 them as belvederes ? He adds that we have the best 

 chance in the evening, and that he often proceeds as 

 follows : first of all he examines the giraffes' position 

 at sunset, and at dawn he is able to approach them 

 without being seen, or scented, or heard. 



My misadventure on this occasion is repeated 

 several times ; once when within two hundred and 

 fifty yards, another time when within three hundred 

 yards, the giraffes make off as we crawl along out of 

 breath, and with perspiration pouring from us. I 

 become convinced that they always saw us from the 

 very first, some time even before we saw them, but 

 that they flee only when they believe danger to 

 be imminent. 



One day, however, when we are leaving a dense 

 thicket for the plain, we catch sight of giraffes. 

 Immediately, like one man, all of us draw back into 

 the shadow to consult. It is decided that we re- 

 main under cover of the thicket, and, as it winds 

 round the plain, we can draw near the distrustful 



