CHAPTER IX 



THE CREATURE GOD FORGOT 



WITHOUT the giraffe in daytime and the noisy- 

 hyena at night Africa would not be Africa. 

 The giraffe is one of the first animals you see when 

 you arrive afid one of the last to peer at your fading 

 dusty trail when you leave. 



One day near noon, near the upper edge of the 

 Kaisoot Desert we came suddenly on a pitiful sight ; a 

 dying giraffe, neck broken and twisted almost under 

 him. Up the poor creature's back were a series of four 

 sets of lacerations, each set grouped within a radius 

 of about six inches. 



" Lions ! " cried Osa. 



Boculy, our black elephant guide, shrugged his 

 broad shoulders and grunted one word: " Simba,'' 

 the native name for the king of beasts. 



The giraffe's great soft brown eyes gazed plead- 

 ingly up into mine for a moment, then glazed. Sadly 

 I reconstructed the scene that must have taken place 

 not twenty minutes before our arrival. 



The waterhole at hand nearby told where the 

 victim had been drinking when set upon by its 



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