GIRAFFES— ZEBRAS— QUAGG AS. 



733 



The Greeks and Romans -were well acquainted with the giraffe ; and Aristotle, de- 

 scribing it under the name of hippardion, or panther-horse, probably knew it better 

 than Buffon, who never saw more of it than a stuffed skin. Pliny relates that Julius 

 Caesar (45 b. c.) first exhibited it to the Romans in the amphitheatre, and from that 

 time it often played a conspicuous part in the bloody spectacles with which the military 

 despots of the declining empire used to entertain the rabble of Rome. Even during 

 the middle ages giraffes were sometimes seen in Europe. The sultan of Egypt pre- 

 sented the German emperor, Frederick II., with a cameleopard ; and Lorenzo de Medicis 

 was honored with a similar gift. But since that time three full centuries elapsed be- 

 fore a single giraffe was ever transported across the Mediterranean ; and when at length 

 the wily old tyrant Mehemet Ali, who knew how to flatter the French while grinding 

 his poor Fellahs, sent one of them to the Jardin des Plantes in 1827, it raised no less 

 a sensation than if it had been the unicorn itself. Thenceforth, the spell being broken, 

 many giraffes have been imported into Europe and America. There are many analo- 

 gies between the giraffe and the ostrich ; both long-legged, long-necked, fit for cropping 

 the tall mimosas, or scouring rapidly the plain ; both, finally, defending themselves by 

 striking their feet forwards, the one against the jackal or hyaena, the other against the 

 assaults of the formidable lion. 



As if to make up for the hideous deformity of the rhinoceros and hippopotamus, the 

 African wilds exclusively give birth to the beautifully-striped Zebras, the most gor- 

 geously attired members of the equine race. 



The tawny-colored Quagga, irregularly banded and marked with dark brown stripes, 

 which, stronger on the head and neck, gradually become fainter, until lost behind the 

 shoulders, has its high crest surmounted by a standing mane, banded alternately brown 

 and white. It used formerly to be found in great numbers within the limits of the Cape 

 Colony, and still roams in vast herds in the open plains farther to the north. Thus, 

 in the desert of the Meritsane, Major Harris, after crossing a park of magnificent 

 camel-thorn trees, soon perceived large herds of quaggas and brindled gnus, which con- 

 tinued to join each other, until the whole plain seemed alive. The clatter of their 

 hoofs was perfectly astounding, and could be compared to nothing but to the din of a 

 tremendous charge of cavalry or the rushing of a mighty tempest. The accumulated 

 numbers could not be estimated at less than 15,000, a great extent of country being 

 actually chequered black and white with their congregated masses. 



The Douw, or Burchell's Zebra, differs little from the common quagga in point of 

 shape or size ; but while the latter is faintly striped only on the head and neck, the 

 former is adorned over every part of the body with broad black bands, beautifully 

 contrasting with a pale yellow ground. Major Harris, who had many opportunites of 

 seeing this fine species in a state of nature, remarks that, " Beautifully clad by the 

 hand of nature, possessing much of the graceful symmetry of the horse, with great 

 bones and muscular power, united to easy and stylish action, thus combining comeli- 

 ness of figure with solidity of form, this species, if subjugated and domesticated, would 

 assuredly make the best pony in the world." Although it admits of being tamed to a 

 certain extent with the greatest facility — a half-domesticated specimen, with a jockey 

 on its brindled back, being occasionally exposed in Cape Town for sale — it has hitherto 

 contrived to evade the yoke of servitude. The senses of sight, hearing and smell, are 



