ORDER RUMINANTIA. 153 



the deserts of South Africa, and supply the place of the 

 Ashaarys, or the fast-going Camels of the north. 



The Giraffas live in small families of seven, eight, or 

 even fifteen, on the plains of the interior, and principally 

 on the great Southern Sahara, where there is herbage or 

 succulent vegetation ; but this, from their great height and 

 the comparative dimensions of the neck and limbs, must be 

 inconvenient to gather, and it is known that the Canaap 

 Kameeldoorn, or Mimosa Camelopardalis in particular, is 

 their favourite food. They amble in gait, with the head 

 stretched forward, and are not remarkably fleet, notwith- 

 standing their length of limb. From the great elevation of 

 the head, no use can be made of their hornlike processes 

 for defence, but they kick and strike with prodigious force. 

 It is asserted that the Lion seldom preys upon the Giraffa, 

 because the hardness of the hide is so great that he cannot 

 tear it, even when he has sprung upon their backs ; and 

 that he is sometimes carried a great way, and at length 

 thrown off without effecting his purpose. 



Modern Naturalists have known the Giraffa only since 

 Mr. Patterson, Colonel Gordon, and M. Le Vaillion found 

 it in South Africa ; but as the Romans were acquainted 

 with the animal, it must have existed in the north of the 

 equinoctial line. It would appear, moreover, that a variety 

 or second species is found in Central Africa, for Mr. M. 

 Park, in describing his escape from captivity among the 

 Moors, noticed an animal of a gray colour, which he refers 

 to the Camelopardalis ; and although it was seen by him 

 passing, the form cannot well be mistaken for any other 

 creature. We would consider this animal as the Wild Camel 

 of the mountains, the existence of which we have had at- 

 tested by several Negroes who had been brought from the 

 interior ; and in the Prasnestine Mosaics, where two spotted 

 Camelopardales are seen together, a larger animal is like- 

 wise represented with short horns, but without spots, and 



Vol. IV. M 



