THE GIRAFFE 



The natives, too, are fond of hunting and capturing 

 this animal by poisoned arrows and deep pitfalls. 



The giraffe was formerly extensively found from 

 Nubia to the Cape of Good Hope. In South Africa it 

 is now wholly extinct. A well-mounted hunter could 

 shoot it at will, and its skin furnished the Boers with 

 the long and effective whips for their ox-teams. Since 

 the giraffe has disappeared from the Transvaal, German 

 East Africa has supplied much of the demand for the 

 highly valued skins, and for a long time their market- 

 price was quoted in the Tanga paper. The animals 

 were hunted in the remote interior, their skins were cut 

 into narrow strips, packed in bales of sixty pounds, and 

 carried to the coast for exportation. The hunting is 

 now much restricted and the supervision by the cus- 

 tom-house officers strict and efficient. 



The giraffe is by nature shy, and, when much hunted, 

 like all other animals, becomes very cautious. In the 

 steppe of the interior I have approached the giraffe 

 within six hundred feet, and nearer still in the bush. 

 It is exceedingly keen of smell and hearing, and still 

 more so of sight, and taxes the skill of a good sportsman, 

 especially in East Africa, where horses cannot be used. 

 The large, lustrous eye commands a wide angle of vision, 

 and the leading bull or cow is constantly on the lookout 

 while the herd rests in the shade of the trees. A switch 

 of the long tail warns the herd, and it seeks safety in 

 immediate flight. The animal's pace is a peculiar gal- 



i8i 



