12 A Breath from the Veldt 



To return to Cape Town. It lacks just one thing to crown the list of its 

 attractions ; and in my humble opinion the lack is a very serious one. It has 

 no Zoological Gardens, and yet, with its natural gifts of climate, shelter, soil 

 for grass, and abundance of water, it possesses every advantage that could be 

 desired for that purpose. In former times the Cape was the home of nearly all 

 the finer big game still to be found in the far North, and though the number 

 of these animals is now sadly diminished, living specimens can still be got that 

 would at least repay the cost of capture and keep, while preserving to future 

 generations many interesting creatures now seriously threatened with extinction. 

 A goodly sum would, no doubt, come in from annual subscriptions and gate- 

 money, but far more would probably be gained by the sales of young animals 

 to the zoological societies of other countries ; for, under careful nurture in their 

 own land, the captured beasts and birds would naturally increase and multiply 

 as they can hardly be expected to in climates to which they are not accustomed. 

 Communications could be opened up with all the European, American, and 

 Indian zoological societies, and thus specimens of all the rarer African fauna 

 could generally be obtainable at more reasonable prices than they command at 

 present. Take the girajffe, for instance, for a pair of which Dr. Sclater, the 

 secretary to our " Zoo," is at present oifering ^1500. These beautiful creatures 

 may be caught in the Kalahari desert and conveyed to Cape Town at infinitely 

 less risk than that involved in transporting them to England ; for they must 

 be taken very young, and in the first two years of their existence they are 

 extremely delicate. A Dutch hunter, Cornellis Basadanote by name, a man 

 of great experience in catching wild animals, told me some interesting facts 

 about the capture of these animals, of which, in days gone by, he had taken 

 many in the low countries adjoining the Labombo Mountains. Out of every 

 eight he took only one lived to find a market in a South African town. After 

 the privations attendant on its long trek down country the animal is rarely 

 given time to pick up its strength, but is shipped at once for the homeward 

 voyage, during which it generally succumbs, rather, in all probability, through 

 injuries received during its capture and long journey than from a too sudden 

 change of climate. Many of these animals would reach Europe in good 

 condition, if there were some convalescent home where they could recover 

 strength before finally leaving their own country. The giraffe breeds well in 

 captivity, and the climate of the Cape exactly suits it, being mild and equable 

 as its own home in South Afri-ca, either in the Kalahari, Eastern Mashonaland, 

 or in the low countries adjoining Labombo. If a pair of healthy animals could 



