MEANS TO AN END. 293 



Ruminants. Not less remarkable than the Camel in the fantastic 

 originality of his form, which matches the exquisite richness of his 

 skin, the gigantic Giraffe (Carnelopardalis Giraffa) is distributed 

 over nearly the whole continent south of the Sahara. Sometimes he 

 even ventures into the Desert ; but most frequently his long neck and 

 tall legs are seen in the fertile plains of Negroland, the Soudan, the 

 Senegal, and Nubia. " His head," says a popular zoologist, " resem- 

 bles that of the camel in the absence of a naked muzzle, and in the 

 shape and organization of the nostrils, which are oblique and narrow 

 apertures, defended by the hair which grows from their margins, and 

 surrounded by cutaneous muscular fibres, by which the animal can 

 close them at will. This is a beautiful provision for the defence of 

 the air passages, and the irritable membrane lining the olfactory 

 cavities, against the fine particles of sand which the storms of the 

 Desert raise in almost suffocating clouds. The large, dark, and lus- 

 trous eyes of the giraffe, which beam with a peculiarly mild but fearless 

 expression, are so placed as to take in a wider range of the horizon than 

 is subject to the vision of any other quadruped. While browsing on 

 his favourite acacia, the giraffe, by means of his laterally-projecting 

 orbits, can direct his sight so as to anticipate a threatened attack in 

 the rear from the stealthy lion, or any other foe of the Desert. To 

 an open attack he sometimes makes a successful defence by striking 

 out his powerful and well-armed feet ; and the king of beasts is said 

 to be frequently repelled and disabled by the wounds which the 

 giraffe has thus inflicted with his hoofs." The lion, however, seldom 

 attacks him unless he can surprise him in a state of repose, when he 

 will leap upon his victim's back and tear him to pieces. 



Le Vaillant has justly observed that if precedency among animals 

 were determined by their height, the giraffe would hold the first 

 rank. The most careless observer must be impressed by the enor- 

 mous length of his fore-legs, and his long tapering neck, which 

 enables him to browse upon the fresh foliage and green young shoots 

 of the loftiest trees ; nor can he fail to admire his small and elevated 

 head, his brilliant beaming eyes, and his mildness of aspect. Unusual 



