IN CAPTIVITY IN LOWER BENGAL. 153 



susceptible to vicissitudes of weather, so that cold draughts and damp 

 should be scrupulously avoided. 



Food. —Indian-corn, gram, wheat, &c, crushed and mixed together, 

 or given separately as a change from one to the other : 2 to 3 

 seers of grain, a pinch of salt twice daily, supplemented by a few bundles 

 of hay, will satisfy a full-grown animal ; it is very fond of babool (Acacia 

 arabica), and heir (Zizyphus jujuba) leaves ; if quantities of these are avail- 

 able, the allowance of grain may be reduced. To enable the animal to 

 feed and drink with ease, both the feeding and drinking vessels should 

 be suspended high. 



Treatment in sickness. 



A male giraffe was found dead one morning in December 1879 ; the 

 opinion was divided whether the animal died of colic or inflammation of 

 the lungs ; the suddenness of death, and the extremely distended condi- 

 tion of the stomach, full of half-digested food, supported the former 

 conclusion ; the nature of the accommodation, consisting of a thatched 

 shed with thin mat wall and low mud floor, had probably brought on 

 a chill inducing inflammation of the lungs. 



Observations on the habits of a Gtraffe. 



The giraffe is timid and peaceable in disposition ; it soon becomes 

 trustful and follows a keeper or anybody who offers it a morsel of food. 

 Its thin and mobile lips and long and semi-prehensile tongue are ever 

 ready to pick up anything in the way; the animals here exhibited 

 showed greater preference for ladies' bonnets and delicately dressed and 

 curled white muslin sheets which loosely dangle from Indian gentlemen's 

 shoulders. Though timid and inoffensive, it is nevertheless capable of 

 inflicting serious and even fatal injuries by kicking with its powerful 

 limbs ; a female giraffe was once noticed to behave in a manner which 

 betokened mischief. To improve and adjust the drainage of the 

 giraffe's enclosure, the paddock was entered : the animal was so tame, 

 trustful and familiar that nobody thought anything about its presence. 

 As soon, however, as it saw the working party, consisting of an overseer, 

 a cooly with instruments, and the keeper, enter, it came cantering up 

 and chased the former nearly round the enclosure, and repeated the 

 same manoeuvre an hour afterwards when the attempt was again made. 

 The giraffe has a rocking motion when walking, and it is given to 

 swinging its long neck every now and then, sometimes describing a 

 complete figure of 8. Another peculiarity of the animal is that, when 

 walking, the fore and hind leg of the same side move together. It is 

 easily frightened, and has been known to clear a fencing 5 feet 9 inches 

 high. While living in an enclosure which formed one of a series of deer 

 paddocks, some pariah dogs got in one night, frightened the deer, and 

 chased them about in all directions ; the result was a general commo- 

 tion among the cervine family ; this so much frightened the giraffe that 

 it jumped over the fencing and took flight ; next morning it was found 

 in a remote corner of the garden, quietly sitting in the midst of a dense 

 shrubbery. A most lamentable catastrophe happened to a fine giraffe 



