126 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Giraffes, 



having in fact prepared the peduncles, was ar- 

 rested in her operations, and forbidden to add the 

 antlers. 



The long flexible neck of the giraffe is provided 

 with a short mane extending from the withers to the 

 top of the head : the elevation of the withers is re- 

 markable, and from this part to the crupper there is 

 a rapid descent, whence has arisen the idea that the 

 fore-limbs are much longer than the hinder pair, 

 which is not the case. The fore-knees are large, 

 and when about to he down the animal sinks upon 

 them, and assumes an attitude by no means easy or 

 graceful. (Fig. 566.) 



The tail is rather Jong, slender, and tufted at the 

 extremity with long coarse black hairs. The skele- 

 ton of the giraffe (Fig. 557) is well worthy the at- 

 tention of an anatomist ; we cannot here enter into 

 osteological minutias, but recommend our readers to 

 Professor Owen's papers in ' Proceeds. Zool. Soc.' 

 1838 ; and to Cuvier's ' Lecons d'Anatomie Com- 

 paree.' 



In giving a sketch of the history of the giraffe, we 

 may commence by observing that some naturalists 

 of the present day consider that there are two 

 distinct species, one peculiar to Nubia, Abyssinia, 

 and the adjacent districts, the other a native of the 

 regions of Southern Africa. We regard them as 

 mere varieties. 



It is with the North African variety that the 

 ancients w r ere acquainted, and of which there are 

 several delineations preserved to the present, day. 

 Among the most remarkable is one on the Prae- 

 nestine pavement, where two of these animals are 

 pictured : one in a straddling attitude endeavouring 

 to reach the ground with his mouth ; the other in 

 the act of browsing on the trees. It is supposed 

 that this pavement, which was executed by the 

 direction of Sulla, is the work of Egyptian Greeks. 

 Belzoni notices the giraffe on the walls of the Sekos 

 of the Memnonium and on the back of the temple 

 of Erments. A giraffe led by Nubians is given in 

 Rosellini's work on Egypt. 



It is supposed by some that the word Zemer, 

 translated Chamois in the book of Deuteronomy 

 (ch. xiv., v. 5), of which animal the flesh was for- 

 bidden, really refers to the giraffe, and there is cer- 

 tainly some affinity between the Hebrew Zemer and 

 the Arabic Zurafa or Zurafet. It is a point, how- 

 ever, not easily decided. 



Though the Praenestine pavement was made by 

 the orders of Sulla (born a. c. 138), the animal itself 

 was not seen in Rome before the time of Julius 

 Caesar, who exhibited it at the Circensian games. It 

 is described by Pliny (book viii.) from a specimen, 

 as is conjectured, which Varro mentions as having 

 been brought from Alexandria. Afterwards the 

 giraffe became not unfrequent among the animals 

 exhibited in the Roman games.* Oppian, who lived 

 in the second century, notices this animal in the third 

 book of his treatise on hunting. Gordian III., em- 

 peror of Rome from a. d. 239 to 244, is stated to have 

 possessed ten of these animals. After the fall of 

 the Roman empire we hear nothing of the giraffe 

 for a considerable period. The first instance, after 

 the darkness of the middle ages had passed, of* a 

 living giraffe in Europe, is that of one possessed by 

 Frederick II., king of Germany (crowned 1215), 

 which he received from the prince of Damas, now 

 Damascus, and which was described by Albertus 

 Magnus under the name of Anabula, with the sy- 

 nonyms Seraph, Oraflus, and Orasius. 



Towards the end of the fifteenth century the Sol- 

 dan of Egypt presented one of these animals to 

 Lorenzo de' Medici, grand-duke of Tuscany : it was 

 a great favourite with the inhabitants of Florence, 

 and was accustomed to walk about the streets, 

 stretching its neck to the balconies and windows 

 for fruits and other articles of food. Its picture 

 exists in the frescoes of the Poggio Acajano, one of 

 the duke's villas near Florence. 



From this time no living giraffe was seen in Eu- 

 rope for nearly three centuries and a half; though 

 in that space various descriptions and figures were 

 published by writers on natural history, mixed up 

 with abundant errors. Gesner, however, gives a 

 tolerable account: and figure in his 'Natural History,' 

 published in 1551. Thevet, in his ' Cosmographia,' 

 (1575), describes and figures the giraffe ; Bellonius, 

 in his 'Observations,' 1605, also figures it; Wolf- 

 gang, in his ' Historia Animalium Sacra,' mentions it. 

 Topsell, in his ' History of Four-footed Beasts '(1607), 

 describes it, and gives two figures. Leo Africanus 

 and Ludolph both describe the giraffe, as does 

 Johnston (cum figura) in his ' Quadrupeds.' We 

 may also mention Alpinus (' Nat. Hist. Egypt ') ; and 

 Carteret, whose paper read before the Royal Society 

 is entitled ' Observations on a Camelopardalis 

 found about the Cape of Good Hope.' (See 'Phil. 

 Trans.' Ix. p. 27.) Buffon describes and figures the 

 giraffe, but in his drawings, as in those of all the 

 preceding writers, the fore-legs are much too long. 



* 'Diversum confusa genus Panthera Camelo.' 



Horace, Epist. ii. 295. 



In the supplement (Supp. vol. vii.) the figure is 

 improved, but still is not without faults. Vos- 

 maer published in 1787, at Amsterdam, a quarto 

 tract on this animal, with tolerable figures. It 

 may here be noticed that w r hen the supplement to 

 Bullous great work was published there was an 

 adult female specimen in the museum of Paris, and 

 M. Allemand of Amsterdam had also a young spe- 

 cimen. 



Le Vaillant when in South Africa hunted the 

 giraffe and procured some specimens ; his descrip- 

 tion of the habits of the animal and his narrative of 

 the incidents of the chase are interesting and graphic, 

 but perhaps a little overcoloured. It is from this 

 time that we may date our correct knowledge of 

 this animal, of which several skins found their way 

 from time to time into our island ; that brought, by 

 Mr. Patterson and ultimately deposited in the Bri- 

 tish Musuem, being the first.* It was in the year 

 1827 that the first living giraffe visited our shores. 

 The Pasha of Egypt destined four of these animals 

 as presents to some of the European princes : of 

 these, one died at Constantinople ; one reached 

 Venice,l 828 ; one was sent to Paris ; and the fourth, 

 which fell by lot to England, reached its destination 

 safely in August, 1827/ but died, worn out by illness, 

 in 1829. Its preserved skin and skeleton were 

 presented by H. M. George IV. to the Zoolo- 

 gical Society, and now grace the museum of that 

 Society. 



In 1836 the arrival of four living giraffes at the 

 gardens of the Zool. Soc, procured in Kordofan by 

 M. Thibaut, created a lively sensation in the world 

 of science. From a letter to M. Thibaut to the 

 secretary of the Zool. Soc, in which he details 

 his proceedings and manner of conducting the ex- 

 hausting pursuit, we take the following extract : — 

 "The first run of the giraffe is exceedingly rapid. 

 The swiftest horse, if unaccustomed to the desert, 

 could not come up with it unless with extreme 

 difficulty. The Arabs accustomed their coursers to 

 hunger and to fatigue ; milk generally serves them 

 for food, and gives them power to continue their 

 exertions during a very long run. If the giraffe 

 reaches a mountain, it passes the heights with 

 rapidity : its feet, which are like those of a goat, 

 endow it with the dexterity of that animal : it 

 bounds over ravines with incredible power ; horses 

 cannot, in such situations, compete with it. The 

 giraffe is fond of a wooded country. The leaves 

 of trees are its principal food. Its conformation 

 allows of its reaching their tops. The one of which 

 I have previously spoken as having been killed by 

 the Arabs measured twenty-one French feet in height 

 from the ears to the hoofs. Green herbs are also 

 very agreeable to this animal ; but its structure 

 does not admit of its feeding on them in the same 

 manner as our domestic animals, such as the Ox 

 and the Horse. It is obliged to straddle widely ; 

 its two fore-feet are gradually stretched widely 

 apart from each other, and its neck being then bent 

 into a semicircular form, the animal is thus enabled 

 to collect the grass. But on the instant that any 

 noise interrupts its repast, the animal raises itself 

 with rapidity, and has recourse to immediate flight. 

 The giraffe eats with great delicacy, and takes its 

 food leaf by leaf, collecting them from the trees by 

 means of its long tongue. It rejects the thorns, 

 and in this respect differs from the camel. As the 

 grass on which it is now fed is cut for it, it takes the 

 upper part only, and chews it until it perceives that 

 the stem is too coarse for it. Great care is required 

 for its preservation, and especially great cleanliness. 

 It is extremely fond of society, and is very sensible. 

 I have observed one of them shed tears when it no 

 longer saw its companions or the persons who were 

 in the habit of attending to it." ('Proceeds. Zool. 

 Soc.,' 1836.) 



The efforts made by the spirited agent of the 

 Zool. Soc in Nubia, and the success of his ar- 

 rangements for the transport of the animals from 

 the interior to the coast, not only encouraged others 

 to make a similar attempt, but opened the way 

 for them in which to proceed ; and subsequently 

 other living specimens were sent to Malta, and 

 thence to England, so that at one time there were 

 seven giraffes in London. 



The giraffe with due care endures our climate 

 well; the female in the gardens of the Zool. Soc. 

 has bred twice; the first fawn died, but the second, 

 which grew rapidly, is in excellent health and con- 

 dition. 



The giraffe, as its figure, the mobility of the lips, 

 and the prehensile power of the tongue declare, is 

 formed for browsing on the leaves of trees, those of 

 the mimosa being especially relished. The first 

 giraffe which Le Vaillant saw was under one of 



* Mr. Patterson was sent to the Gijie as botani-1 by Lady Ptraih- 

 more, and he brought to this country the first entire skin of a giraffe 

 on record. Lndv Straihmore gave it to the celebrated John Hunter, 

 in whose museum it was preserved. Afterwards the trustees 0)f the 

 Koyal I 'ollese of Surgeons transferred Die skin to the British Museum. 

 Its condition is very bad, the hair being almost all off the skin ; yet 

 as a sort of historical monument in the department of Zoology, it is 

 worthy of preservation. 



these trees, on the leaves of which it was making 

 a repast : with his characteristic enthusiasm he 

 began the pursuit — " We saw her cross the plain 

 towards the west, and hastened to overtake her : 

 she w-as proceeding at a smart trot, but did not 

 appear to be at all hurried. We galloped after 

 her, but she insensibly gained so much upon us, 

 that after having pursued her for three hours we 

 were forced to stop, because our horses were quite 

 out of breath, and we entirely lost sight of her." 

 Le Vaillant afterwards was more successful. 



We have already alluded to the difficulty which 

 the giraffe experiences in putting its lips to the 

 ground, being obliged to set its fore-limbs wide 

 apart ; it is indeed an action which it seldom at- 

 tempts unless induced by some tempting morsel, 

 as, for instance, sugar, of which the giraffes in the 

 gardens of the Zoological Society are very fond, 

 and for which they will follow their attendants, 

 trying to gain possession of it by insinuating their 

 long slender tongue or upper lip into the hands of 

 the person who holds it. In their play w r e have 

 several times noticed that they strike out with the 

 fore-limbs, and these, as well as the hind-limbs, 

 they use in self-defence, lashing out with rapid and 

 impetuous force. "His defence," says Le Vaillant, 

 " consists in kicks, and his hinder limbs are so 

 light and his blows so rapid, that the eye cannot 

 follow them ; : ' and "1 know beyond a doubt that 

 by its kicking it often tires out, discourages, and 

 even beats off the lion." After his clogs had 

 brought an individual to bay, they dared not make 

 an attack, as it defended itself " with a succession of 

 rapid kicks." Major Gordan notices the force with 

 which one which he killed spurned the ground in 

 the agony of death. 



Le Vaillant observes that the giraffe never uses 

 its horns in resisting any attack ; we have, however, 

 often seen the gentle and beautiful animals in the 

 gardens of the Zoological Society, while playing 

 with each other, swing the head round and butt 

 with the horns ; but in earnest self defence we may 

 easily believe that this mode would never be 

 adopted. While speaking of these individuals, we 

 may state that they often take each others mane 

 between the lips, and appear to nibble it as they 

 pass their mouth along its course. They are ex- 

 tremely confiding in disposition : the presence of 

 strangers is far from giving them annoyance ; 

 they gaze with calmness on the crowd of admirers 

 around them, and bend their necks down as if to 

 contemplate them more closely, or in order to 

 solicit some delicacy. 



In its native wilds, man excepted, the lion is the 

 only enemy to be feared by the giraffe ; and from 

 various sources we learn the lion often surprises the 

 latter when he comes to drink at the pools or form- 

 tains, and springs from his ambush upon the tall 

 and powerful beast, which, mad with terror and 

 pain, rushes over the desert, bearing the " great 

 destroyer," till, strength failing, he reels, sinks, and 

 expires. 



According to M. Thibaut, the Arabs of Nubia 

 are very fond of the flesh of the giraffe ; and he 

 himself 'partaking of the repast (viz., broiled slices), 

 found it to be excellent. In South Africa its flesh 

 is equally acceptable. 



The height of the male giraffe to the top of the 

 head is from fifteen to sixteen feet, of the female 

 from thirteen to fourteen. The general colour is 

 fawn-white, marked regularly with large angular- 

 spots of cholocate-brown, compacted rather closely 

 together ; the throat and legs are white ; the tuft 

 at the end of the tail black ; the hair is close and 

 glossy. The South African variety is generally 

 darker than the Nubian. The specimens presented 

 by Mr. Burchell to the British Museum came from 

 Kosi Fountain, and of these the female is lighter 

 coloured than the male. A specimen from Cen- 

 tral Africa, presented by Colonel Denham, is 

 young, and the spots are fawn-coloured on a white 

 ground. 



In the Museum at Paris is a very young giraffe, 

 about four feet seven or eight inches in total height, 

 of a uniform mouse-colour, the hair being remark- 

 ably close and fine, resembling the nap of velveteen ; 

 the place of each horn is indicated by a tuft of 

 black hairs. The Nubian giraffes in the Zoolo- 

 gical Gardens differ in the intensity of their colour. 

 one of the males being of a lighter tint than the 

 other. 



The period of gestation is about sixteen months. 

 (See 'Proceeds. Zool. Soc,' 1839, p. 108.) 



In a state of confinement the giraffe eats hay, 

 carrots, and onions, to the latter of which it is very 

 partial. We have never heard these animals utter 

 any noise or cry, nor do travellers make any men- 

 tion of their voice. The giraffe shot by Colonel 

 Gordon, to which we have already alluded, wheu so 

 wounded as to be incapable of rising from the 

 ground, exhibited no signs of anger or resentment, 

 nor is it stated to have made any moan. Hence 

 we conclude that the giraffe is mute. 



