240 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
~~ > his chest, neck, and arms. 
Alwaysafterthatwe donned cord 
coats, when running giraffes 
in bush and forest country. 
In regions where they 
have been little disturbed, 
giraffes no doubt wander across 
open plains, and are to be seen 
well away from the denser 
forests, feedingamong scattered 
islets of acacias, easily exposed 
to the human eye. But in 
South Africa they are now 
seldom to be met with out of 
the forest region. Once, and 
once only, have I seen giraffes 
in the open. This was on the 
nea hes oe ; outskirts of the forest, and 
h ‘ 
& GIRAPER GRAZING the great creatures had been 
ee ; ie , ; ae es he : tempted to a little knoll of 
Grazing ts evi ently not the natural mo tah feeding oft esé anima. Sy W ich are essentta. ly mokala trees, rising like an 
islet from the sea of grass. 
One’s first impression of these creatures in the wild state is very deceptive. I well 
remember first setting eyes upon a troop of five or six. As they swung away from the leafage 
on which they were feeding, my friend and I cantered easily, thinking that we should soon 
come up with them. We were completely deceived. With those immense legs of theirs, the. 
great creatures, going with their easy, shuffling, but marvellously swift walk, were simply 
striding away from us. Discovering our mistake, we rode hard, and the giraffes then broke into 
their strange, rocking gallop, and a headlong, desperate chase began, to be terminated by the 
death of a fine cow. Like the camel, the giraffe progresses by moving the two legs upon 
either side of the body simultaneously. At this strange, rocking gallop these animals move at 
a great pace, and a good Cape horse is needed to run into them. By far the best plan, if you 
are bent on shooting these animals, is to press your pony, so soon as you sight giraffes, to the 
top of its speed, and force the game beyond its natural paces in one desperate gallop of a 
couple of miles or so. If well mounted, your nag will take you right up to the heels of the 
tall beasts, and, firing from the saddle, you can, without great difficulty, bring down the game. 
The giraffe, unlike the antelopes of Africa, is not very tenacious of life, and a bullet planted 
near the root of the tail will, penetrating the short body, pierce a vital spot, and bring 
down the tall beast crashing to earth. Having tasted the delights of fox-hunting and many 
other forms of sport, I can testify that the run up to a good troop of giraffes is one 
of the most thrilling and exciting of all human experiences. There is nothing else quite 
like it in the wide range of sporting emotions. Having enjoyed this thrilling pleasure a few 
times, however, the humane hunter will stay his hand, and shoot only when meat, or perhaps 
an exceptionally fine specimen, is absolutely needed. Giraffes are, of course, utterly defenceless, 
and, save for their shy, wary habits and remote, waterless habitat, have nothing to shield 
them from the mounted hunter. 
Giraffe-hunting on foot is a very different matter. In that case the giraffe has the better 
of it, and the stalker is placed at great disadvantage. These animals are in many places 
found in extremely waterless country, where even the mounted hunter has much trouble to 
reach them. Like elands and gemsbok and other desert-loving antelopes, they can exist for 
long periods — months together — without drinking. In the northern portions of the Kalahari 
Desert, where I have carefully observed their habits, as well as hunted them, it is an undoubted 
