66 THE GIRAFFE. 
laughter, astonishment, and delight, I almo®^ 
forgot my designs upon the lives of the hatH* 
less creatures. From the extravagant dispt'^ 
portion between the height of the fore 
that of the hinder parts, and of the height 
the length of the animal, great obstacles 
presented to its moving with any degree 
swiftness. The giraffe can only gallop, aS 
can affirm from my own experience, haviOt 
seen between forty and fifty at different tiiW^' 
both in their slow and hasty movement, 
they only stop when they are feeding quietlf 
But this gallop is so heavy and unwieldy, 
seems to be performed with so much laboiJ^' 
that in a distance of more than a hundred pac®*’ 
comparing the ground cleared with the size 
the animal and of the surrounding objects, ' 
might almost be said that a man goes faster ‘’’’j 
foot. The heaviness of the movement is 
pensated only by the length of the steps, ea^^ 
of which clears from twelve to sixteen feet.” 
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