102 RECORDS OF BIG GAME 



and broad, low-crowned molar teeth. There are no tusks in the upper 

 jaw ; and the false hoofs are likewise wanting. 



In the present species the third horn is well developed, measuring 

 from three to five inches in height in old bulls. The ground-colour 

 of the coat varies from white to fawn ; the orange-red or reddish 

 chocolate dark blotches having sharply defined edges, with the spaces 

 between them generally narrow and distinctly demarcated, even in old 

 individuals. Beneath the knees and hocks the legs are white in 

 typical examples. 



Distribution. — From the Tana river northwards through the Galla 

 country and Somaliland to Abyssinia, Kordofan, and thence 

 probably across Africa, in suitable districts to Senegambia from 

 about Lat. i s° N. to the Equator. An unusual tall female 

 giraffe from Nigeria has been regarded as indicating a western 

 race of this species, under the name of G, camelopardalis peralta. 

 The giraffes of Nyasaland and the Kilimanjaro districts have 

 been described by Dr. P. Matschie as distinct species, but their 

 right to separation stands in need of confirmation. 



SOUTHERN GIRAFFE (GiraflFa capensis). 



In the southern giraffe the third horn, even in old bulls, is so 

 reduced in size as scarcely to merit that name at all. The ground- 

 colour of the coat varies from white to dull fawn ; and the dark 

 blotches, which may be either dun or deep coffee colour, always have 

 the centre darker than the edges, and the latter irregular and not 

 sharply defined, so that in the adult the intervening light spaces are 

 broad. In young individuals, however, the skin shows very clearly 

 defined white lines between the dark blotches, forming a conspicuous 

 network pattern ; the margin of the blotches receding with age. In 

 size, the species appears very similar to the last ; and in both 

 kinds the old bulls become much darker than the cows or immature 

 males. 



Distribution. — Within the last half century this species has ranged 

 from the Orange to the Zambesi rivers. Northward of this latter 

 river on the eastern half of the continent, at least, no giraffe is 

 found for about 1 2 degrees ; but north of the Rufizi river they 

 again appear and continue through German East Africa, reaching 

 westward to Lake Tanganyika, and occurring east of the Mari 

 escarpment and south of the Tana river in British East Africa 

 (De Winton). 



