MANNER OF COLLECTING ANIMALS. 85 



will here be increased by beholding such splendid specimens as 

 he can never meet with elsewhere. All his energies will be 

 strengthened, and every sacrifice made to enable him to transport 

 the fruits of his toils. 



We need only to recur to tbe zeal manifested by Le Yalliant in 

 his travels, and the rapturous delight experienced by him when 

 he first beheld and killed the Giraffe. He brought this large skin 

 from CarTraria, where he killed the animal, a distance of two hun- 

 dred leagues from the Cape of Good Hope. 



Should the traveler, accidentally, or in pursuit of natural objects, 

 find himself possessed of the carcase of one of flhese large and fine 

 animals, he would deeply regret not being able to fetch away the 

 skin from want of a knowledge how to separate it from the body. 

 We shall, therefore, suppose that he has killed an animal the size 

 of a Bull. He must first make an incision under the belly, in the 

 form of a double cross. The central line must reach from the 

 chin to the anus ; the two other transverse cuts must reach from 

 one foot to the other. These are always made inside, so that the 

 seams may be less conspicuous when the animal is mounted. 

 When the skin is stuffed, the hoofs are detached by laying them 

 on a stone, and striking them with a hatchet or mallet. The nails 

 or hoofs must be left attached to the skin. After this, the skin is 

 removed from the feet, legs, and thighs, and treated in other 

 respects as pointed out in skinning other large animals. The 

 bones of the head must be preserved if possible, leaving it attached 

 at the muzzle only. All the muscles must be removed from the 

 head, and the bones rendered as clean as possible. 



As it is probable that an animal of this magnitude has been 

 killed at a great distance from any habitation, tliere will not be an 

 opportunity of macerating the hide in alum and water. The skin 

 will also be too thick for the arsenical soap to penetrate with 

 effect. Under these circumstances, the next best thing to pre- 

 serve it is to take the ashes of a wood lire, and rub it well inside. 

 The skin should then be stretched along the boughs of a tree, and 

 allowed to dry. The skull, after it has been dried, must be re- 

 turned into the skin, and the lips, ears, and feet, imbued plenti- 

 fully with turpentine, which operation must be several times re- 

 peated at intervals. Nothing is more effectual in preventing the 

 attacks of insects than this spirit, and no larvae will exist in places 

 which it has touched. 



