National Museum at Paris, 23 



giraffe, to whom I paid frequent visits. She is the only sur- 

 vivor of the three which left Africa much about the same time, 

 and inhabits the large round building in the centre of the me- 

 nagery, called the Rotonde. Great care is taken to shelter her 

 from the cold, and in the winter she has a kind of hood and 

 cape, which reach the length of her neck, and a body cloth, 

 all made of woollen materials. She is only suffered to walk 

 in her little park when the sun shines upon it, and if care and 

 attention can compensate for the loss of liberty, she ought to 

 be the happiest of her kind. She stands about 1 2 J ft. high, 

 and her skin, with its light brown spots, shines like satin ; but 

 I confess I was disappointed with regard to her beauty. She 

 looks best when lying down, or standing perfectly upright, in 

 which posture she is very dignified ; but the moment she moves 

 she becomes awkward, in consequence of the disproportion of 

 the hinder parts of her body, and the immense length of her 

 neck, which, instead of being arched, forms an angle with her 

 shoulders. When she gallops, her hind feet advance beyond 

 those in front, and the peculiarity of gait caused by moving the 

 hind and fore feet on the same side, at the same time, is very 

 striking. She has great difficulty in reaching the ground with 

 her mouth, and was obliged to make two efforts to separate her 

 fore legs before she could reach a cistern placed on the pave- 

 ment. Her head is of remarkable beauty, and the expression 

 of her full black eyes is mild and affectionate; her tongue is long, 

 black, and pointed. She is extremely gentle, yet full of frolic 

 and animation, and when walking in the menagery, her keeper 

 is obliged to hold her head to prevent her biting off the young 

 branches of the trees. Her great delight, however, is to eat 

 rose leaves, and she devours them with the greatest avidity. 

 The African cows, with humps on their shoulders, who sup- 

 plied her with milk during her passage to Europe, are as gentle 

 as their nursling, and when feeding her they come and softly 

 push your elbows to have their share. Turning from the 

 giraffe one day, and proceeding a yard or two in order to 

 satisfy them, I suddenly felt something overshadow me, and 

 this was no less than the giraffe, who, without quitting her 

 place, bent her head over mine, and helped herself to the 

 carrots in my hand. Her keeper, named Ati, and from Dar- 

 fdr, is a tall well-proportioned black, and at his own request 

 a little gallery has been erected for him in the stable of his 

 charge, where he sleeps and keeps all his property. When 

 in attendance he dresses in the turban, vest, and full trowsers 

 of his country, but when he walks into Paris he assumes the 

 European costume, for in his native garb all the children in 

 the streets recognise him, and calling out, " Ati ! Ati ! comment 



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