GIRAFFE. 



333 



Writing in the year 1881, Mr. Selous states that the giraffe was at that time 

 " still to be found in considerable numbers, over a vast exteijt of country to the 

 south of the Zambesi River. In parts of the Kalahari Desert it is said to abound, 

 and in all the dry sandy district between Bawangwalo and Lake Ngami, and 

 thence to the Mabebi, Chobi, and Zambesi Rivers, it is also very numerous. Along 

 portions of the Botlebi River, and in the waterless but forest-clad sand-belts on the 

 southern bank of the Chobi, it is particularly plentiful. In the country between 

 the Chobi and the Zambesi, the giraffe is also found in the neighbourhood of 

 Linyanti : but is not nearly so numerous there as on the other side of the former 

 river. Immediately north of the Zambesi it is unknown, although it appears to 

 be plentiful in parts of Central and Eastern Africa. In some parts of the Matabili 

 country it is also common, but till within the last few years was never found 

 eastwards of the river Gwelo (a tributary of the Zambesi north of Matabililand), 

 though it was always very plentiful in the sand-belts to the westward of that 

 river. This fact is the more curious since the soil, vegetation, and general appear- 

 ance of the country are precisely similar on both sides of the river, which, during 

 a great portion of the year, is only a succession of pools, and therefore does not 

 offer the slightest obstacle to any animal desirous of crossing it. During the last 

 three or four years a few giraffes have extended their range further eastwards." 



Since the above was written, Mr. Bryden states that giraffes have practically 

 disappeared from large areas to the south of the Zambesi ; and their headquarters 

 are now the parched desert country forming the North Kalahari. Probably 

 giraffes are most abundant in the districts lying immediately south of the Botlebi 

 River, on the northern border of the Kalahari Desert. Most of this district is quite 

 waterless for a great portion of the year, and cannot be hunted without water-carts 

 accompanying the party. Here giraffes may frequently be seen in parties of 

 fifteen or twenty, while it is stated that as many as seventy or eighty have been 

 observed together. To the east of the Kalahari, in Khama's country, giraffe are 

 not uncommon ; as is also the case in parts of the Chobi Valley ; while in Matabili- 

 land and Mashonaland they are scarce. Southward of the Limpopo, these animals 

 have been completely exterminated. 



The circumstance that the hide of a bull-giraffe now fetches from four to five 

 pounds in the market has been the main cause of the incessant persecution to which 

 these splendid animals have been subjected. It is probable that in Southern Africa 

 they will linger longest in the more inaccessible portions of the Kalahari ; while 

 they are likewise likely to persist in the deserts of Kordofan and the Sudan. 



The giraffes inhabiting the North Kalahari Desert cannot, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Bryden, touch water for some seven or eight months of the 

 year ; and the same is true with regard to those found in other waterless districts. 

 Hence the bushmen state that these animals never drink at all. This, however, is 

 disproved by the following quotation from Mr. Selous, who writes that on a certain 

 occasion he reached camp " a little before sundown, just in time to see three tall, 

 graceful giraffes issue from the forest a little distance beyond, and stalk across the 

 intervening flat, swishing their long tails to and fro, on their way down to the 

 water. It is a curious sight to watch these long-legged animals drinking, and one 

 that I have had several opportunities of enjoying. Though their necks are long, 



Habits. 



