peculiar, and one who has witnessed the 

 curious operation tells us that although 

 the animal's neck is so long, it can not 

 reach the water without straddling its 

 legs wide apart. This it does by placing 

 one foot forward and the other as far 

 back as possible, increasing the distance 

 between them by a series of little jerks, 

 and sometimes they sprawl their legs out 

 sideways in a similar manner. 



It is at the watering place that the 

 lion lies in concealment waiting for the 

 Giraffe to appear. Should it remain un- 

 conscious of the lion's presence, the vic- 

 tory is to the lion, but in the open the 

 Giraffe has an equal chance with the 

 ''king of beasts," for it can defend itself 

 yaliantly and successfully with vigorous 

 blows from its powerful limbs. The 

 small horns are not used as a means of 

 defense ; they are covered with skin, and 

 at birth the bones are separate, becoming 

 attached to the skull at a later period, 

 while the third small horn, especially 

 observable in the male, is really no horn 

 at all but only a thickening of the bone 

 at that point. 



The head of a Giraffe is really a thing 

 of beauty. On account of the delicate 

 contour of the muzzle the head appears 

 longer than it really is. The nostrils can 

 be opened and closed at will, making it 

 possible to avoid injury from the sand 

 storms which sometimes prevail. The 

 eyes are the largest for the size of the 

 head of any animal and are wonderfully 

 gentle, lustrous and beautiful. They are 

 also capable of some lateral projection so 

 that to a degree the animal can see be- 

 hind it without turning its head. 



Notwithstanding the extreme length of 

 the neck of the Giraffe it contains but 

 seven bones, the same number as man. 



Its sloping back has led some people 

 to suppose that the legs were uneven in 

 length ; this is an error, as the legs are 

 about the same length and the feet have 

 delicate, beautifully shaped, divided 

 hoofs. 



The tail of the animal is long and fin- 

 ished with a generous tuft of hair with 

 which it relieves itself of the seroot flies 

 and other stinging insects which other-- 

 wise would become unbearable. 



Like the American bison the Giraffe is 

 in danger of extermination. It origi- 

 nally had a larger range but has been 



killed in great numbers. The temptation 

 to hunt the animal is not to be resisted, 

 as the hide of the bull brings from twenty 

 to twenty-five dollars, the flesh is very 

 fine eating and the other parts of the 

 body can be put to various uses; the 

 Arabs use the tendons of the legs for sew- 

 ing leather, the tail-tufts are used for fly 

 brushes and the solid leg bones are in 

 England made into buttons and other 

 bone articles. 



The Giraffe is difficult to approach for 

 it is extremely wary, and will place senti- 

 nels to give the herd warning of ap- 

 proaching danger. It is a rapid runner, 

 although its gait is shambling and pecu- 

 liar owing to the fact that it moves like 

 a pacing horse, the fore and hind legs 

 of the same side moving together. 



It is usually hunted on horseback and 

 the animal must be pressed from the 

 moment he starts; "it is the speed that 

 tells against him, and the spurs must be 

 at work at the commencement of the 

 hunt and the horse pressed along at his 

 best pace ; it must be a race at top speed 

 from the very start, for should the 

 Giraffe be allowed the slightest advan- 

 tage for the first five minutes the race will 

 be against the horse." 



Europeans and natives alike are fasci- 

 nated with Giraffe hunting, though few 

 fail to be struck with the pathetic and 

 half-reproachful expression of a fallen 

 animal and few hearts are so hardened 

 as to feel no compunction at "destroying 

 one of the noblest specimens of nature's 

 handiwork." 



Mr. Selous, after hunting one day, in 

 recounting his experiences says : "Even 

 in the ardor of the chase it struck me as 

 a glorious sight to see those huge beasts 

 dashing along in front, clattering over 

 the stones or bursting a passage through 

 opposing bushes, their long, graceful 

 necks stretched forward, sometimes bent 

 almost to the earth to avoid horizontal 

 branches, and their bushy black tails 

 twisted over their backs. And how eas- 

 ily and with what little exertion they 

 seemed to get over the ground, with that 

 long, sweeping stride of theirs !" 



The skin of the Giraffe is in many parts 

 so thick that a bullet will not pierce it, 

 and the surest method of hunting it is 

 that pursued by some of the Arabs of 

 Abyssinia who run it down while gal- 



185 



