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THE GIRAFFE—CAMEL—BUFFALO 
“Our stealthy approach,” says the writer, “was opposed by 
an ill-tempered rhinoceros, which, with her ugly calf, stood directly 
in the path; and the twinkling of her bright little eyes, accompanied 
by a restless rolling of the body, giving earnest of her intention to 
charge. A discharge of musketry, however, put her to flight, and I 
set spurs to my horse. At the report of the gun and the sudden 
clattering of hoofs, away bounded the giraffes in picturesque confu¬ 
sion, clearing the ground by a series of froglike hops, and soon leaving 
me far in the rear. Twice were their towering forms concealed from 
view by a park of trees, which we entered almost at the same instant; 
and twice, in emerging from the labyrinth, did I perceive them tilting 
over a hill far in advance. 
“In the course of five minutes the fugitives arrived at a small 
river, the treacherous sands of which receiving their long legs, their 
flight was greatly retarded; and, after floundering to the opposite side, 
and scrambling to the top of the bank, I perceived that their race was 
run. Patting the steaming neck of my good steed, I urged him again 
to his utmost, and instantly found myself by the side of the herd. The 
stately bull being readily distinguished from the rest by his dark 
chestnut robe and superior stature, I applied the muzzle of my rifle 
behind his dappled shoulder with my right hand, and drew both trig¬ 
gers. But he still continued to shuffle along, and being afraid of 
losing him, should I dismount, among the extensive mimosa groves 
with which the landscape was now obscured, I sat in my saddle, loading 
and firing behind the elbow; and then placing myself across his path 
until the tears trickled from his full brilliant eyes, his loftly frame 
began to totter, and at the seventeenth discharge from the deadly rifle, 
like a falling minaret bowing his graceful head from the skies, his 
proud form was prostrate in the dust.” 
The meat of the giraffe is held in high regard by the natives, who 
cut it in strips and hang it out in the sun to dry. In the state of 
preservation that it acquires it is called biltong. The hide is used for 
making shoes and various other leather articles. The trail or foot¬ 
print left by the giraffe is a curious one, easily followed. It is shaped 
somewhat like a parallelogram, about eleven inches long, rounded at 
the heel and tapering toward the toe. However, the African jungle 
