SKETCHES IN THE SOUDAN 59 



probably from the last rainy season. Finding a particularly 

 fresh spoor of a giraffe, the impressions of whose large hoofs are 

 always so clearly cut, we followed it, as I had never yet seen 

 these animals in their wild state. On we went, frequently 

 having to make a detour, thanks to some particularly dis- 

 agreeable kittar bush, but nothing was to be seen anywhere ; so 

 we made for a baobab -tree, in the hope that from the upper 

 branches the hunter might see something of our game. The 

 gigantic trunks, altogether out of proportion with their' height, 

 often over 30 feet in circumference, are very soft and spongy, 

 frequently hollow, and occasionally the habitat of bees and 

 therefore an object of interest to the native. The trunk gives 

 off few, but gigantic, branches, on which no leaves now re- 

 mained, but here and there a fruit was still hanging by its long 

 stem. This fruit consists of an almost pear-shaped, greyish- 

 green hard envelope, in which are contained, packed away like 

 sweets in a bonbon box, between layers of fibre, a great number 

 of seeds, each of which is thickly covered with a white substance, 

 which soon crumbles into powder, but is sweet and very 

 pleasantly acidulated and therefore very refreshing, either when 

 allowed to dissolve in the mouth or as a drink mixed with 

 water. 



The tracker had now climbed up to the top branches, whence, 

 no doubt, a very extensive view could be obtained, and to our 

 anxious inquiries he at last made signs that some giraffes were 

 within sight. We rode to a hillock, where the stalk was to 

 commence ; arrived there, we took a peep over the brow of it, 

 and about five hundred yards off, feeding on some bushes, stood 

 two giraffes enormous they looked even at that distance. 

 Unfortunately there was hardly any cover, nothing but low 

 mimosa shrub, above which they towered like lighthouses. The 

 chance of being able to approach them within reasonable 

 distance was very faint ; still, I started off on hands and knees, 

 a most uncomfortable, painful, and disagreeable stalk ; for not 

 only were the low bushes covered with thorns, but the ground 

 also, only to be just in time to see the game trot off beyond 

 range. In this low cover it is almost impossible to get near 

 these wary animals ; their enormous height renders their area of 

 vision most extensive ; at the slightest sign of danger they start 

 off with their peculiar trot, and do not stop again until far away. 



