THE GIRAFFE 
magnificent animals. They were in herds numbering respectively twelve, 
eight, six and five; and besides these, two single bulls were also in sight. 
On another occasion, having come suddenly on a small herd of eight or 
ten Somali giraffes in thick bush, these ran past an outcrop of rocks into 
more open country, and, on climbing to the top of these rocks, I was 
astonished to see the whole valley below me full of giraffes. I tried to 
count them, but could not do so with absolute accuracy, as some of them 
were always moving, and they were spread over a good deal of ground. 
However, there were certainly over fifty of them. I think that this 
great assemblage of giraffes was composed of several small herds which 
had all been attracted to this one valley to feed on the leaves of certain 
trees which were abundant there. 
Although, when they have been much hunted, giraffes become exces- 
sively wary, and, owing to the great range of vision which their height 
gives them, are then very difficult to approach in open country, in districts 
where they have not been much molested they are not only very tame, but 
sometimes curiously inquisitive. One day, whilst crossing a piece of 
country to the south-west of Mount Kenia, in East Africa, a magnificent 
old bull giraffe accompanied our caravan for miles. When he first saw us 
approaching, he was straight ahead of us, and he stood quite still looking 
at us until we had commenced to file past him at a distance of about two 
hundred yards. Then he walked slowly along, just keeping pace with us, 
then stopped until the whole caravan had passed; then cantered forward 
to the head of the line again, and walked with us once more. At last he 
went right ahead and disappeared in a tract of forest. A giraffe never 
trots, but breaks at once from a walk to a canter or gallop, the hind legs 
being brought out wide on each side of the forelegs. 
When hunting on horseback, one was accustomed to gallop up to within 
about a hundred yards of a giraffe, pull up, dismount quickly, and put in 
a bullet as near the root of the tail as possible, which, owing to the short- 
ness of the animal’s body, would penetrate to the heart or lungs and soon 
prove fatal. A small-bore cordite rifle with solid nickel -coated bullets 
would answer quite well for giraffe -shooting in this way, as by the help of 
one’s horse shot after shot could be obtained should the first not prove 
fatal. But to kill a giraffe on foot, it will be the first shot that counts, 
and it will therefore always be advisable in such a case to use a heavy 
weapon. 
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