20 8 After Big Game in Central Africa 



country, it eats various leguminous plants of the 

 same species. It takes the young shoots of the tree, 

 and leaves debris strewn on the ground wherever it 

 has eaten. When pursued it dashes into the thickest 

 forest with an ease which seems incompatible with 

 its shape ; its head is lowered and passes under 

 the branches ; its long legs adroitly avoid the thousand 

 obstacles in its path. In the act of running it makes 

 with its neck a very regular, combined, upward and 

 forward, downward and backward movement like that 

 of some jointed toys, at the same time ceaselessly 

 switching its tail. Finally, it only goes at a walking- 

 pace or gallop, without intermediary speed, and, 

 though seeming not to multiply its steps, really 

 proceeds with considerable speed. The toughness of 

 its skin, which I cannot better compare than with the 

 hide of a rhinoceros, requires heavier bullets than the 

 Expansive, and the Express seems to be the one for 

 shooting this strange animal. 



The more or less dark chestnut colour of wild 

 giraffes makes them very difficult to distinguish in 

 the distance, owing to their legs and neck being 

 exactly the same shade as the tree trunks with which 

 they blend. When on the qui vive these large 

 animals also keep perfectly still, completing the 

 illusion ; if one thinks of looking at the top of the 

 trees instead of underneath, one can sometimes see 

 their heads. An almost completely black back is a 

 feature of old male animals. 



The day on which I killed the giraffe described 

 above, the whole expedition composed, in addition to 



