The Giraffe and Oltapi 



265 



united to tlie skull. A third race or sub-sjiouies of giratf;- has lieen identified in Western 

 Africa, mainly from the skull and cannon-lioncs of a specimen shot in 1S97 at the jiuictio]i of 

 the Jiinue and Niger Rivers ; hut \ery litth- is known about this form. (Jther \-arieties or 

 sub-species may yet be discovered in other parts of the Dark Continent. It is lacking in the 

 giraffe's long neck. 



Tiie towering heiglit of the giiaffe is entirely attributable to the great length of tlie neck 

 and linrbs. A full-grown bull giraffe will certainly measure oi-casionally as much as 1 9 feet in 

 heiglit. I measured very carefully a specimen shot by my hunting friend, Mr. W. Dove, in the 

 forests of the North Kalahari. South y\frica, which taped IS feet lU inches. A tine cow, shot 

 by myself in the same country, measured IG fe<'t 10 inches, and there is no reason to suppose 

 tliat cow giraffes do not easily reach fully 17 fi'et in height. These animals feed almost 

 entirely upon the lea\'es of acacia-trees, the foliage of the kameel-doorn, or giraffe-acacia, 

 affording their most favourite food-su})i)ly. It is a most beautiful spectacle to see, as I have 

 seen, a large troop of these dappled giants— creatures wliich, somehow, viewed iu the wild state, 

 always seem to me to belong to another epoch — quietly lirowsing, with upstrctched necks and 

 delicate heads, among the branches of the spreading mol-aln, as the Eechuanas call this tree. 



The giraffe's u[i[ier lip is long and prehensile, and coveieil, no doubt as a protection 

 against thorns, with a thick velvety coating of short hair. Tlie tongue is long — some 18 inches 

 in length — and is employed for plucking down the tender leafage on which the giraffe feeds. 

 The eyes of the giraffe are most beautiful — dark brown, shaded by long lashes, and pecuharly 

 tender and melting in exptression. Singularly enough, the animal is absolutely mute, and never, 

 even in its death-agonies, utters a sound. The lioofs are large, elongate, nearly 12 inches in 

 length in the case of old bulls, and look like those of gigantic cattle. There are no false 

 hoofs, and the fetlock is round and smooth. The skin of a full-grown giraffe is extraordinarily 

 tough and solid, attaining in the case of old males as much as an incli in thickness. From 

 these animals most of the sjamboks, or colonial whips, in use all over South Africa, are now 

 made; and it is a miserable fact to record tluit giraffes are now slaughtered by native and 

 Boer hunters alnrost s(.)lely for the value of the hide, which is worth from .£'3 to £5 in the 

 case of full-grown lieasts. So perishes the 

 giraffe from South Africa. 



Giraffes live mainly in forest country, or 

 country partially open and partially clothed with 

 thin, park-like stretches of low acacia-trees. 

 Wlien pursued, they lietake themselves to the 

 densest parts of the bush and timber, and, their 

 thick hides being ahsolutely impervious to the 

 frightful thorns with which all African jungle 

 and forest seem to be provided, burst through 

 every bushy obstacle with the greatest ease. 

 Ihey steer also in the most wonderful manner 

 through the timber, ducking branches and 

 evading tree-boles with marvellous facility. I 

 shall never forget seeing my hunting comrade 

 after his first chase in thick bush. We had 

 ridden, as we always rode liunting, in our flannel 

 shirts, coatless. Attracted by his firing, I came 

 up with my friend, who was sitting on the 

 body of a huge old bull giraffe, which had 

 fallen dead in a grassy clearing. He was looking 

 ruefully at the remains of his shirt, which hung 

 about him, literally in rags and riblions. I'lood 



streaming from innumer.dile wounds upon 



was 



:UALE SOUTHEKX GIKAFFE, 

 (i[ these animals harmonises exactly ^\'ivh Uie ilajk 

 Lnd ligbt splashes of their surronn<liii:4s. 



34 



