51 
Henry If. of Castile to Tamerlane the Great, in 1403, there is the following minute, and in many respects, accurate account 
of the animal: — “The ambassadors sent by the king of Castile, Henri IIL, to the Great Tamerlane, arrived at a town called 
Hoy, now Khoy, on the confines of Armenia, where the Persian empire commences. At that town they fell in with an am~- 
bassador whom the Sultan of Babylon had sent to Tamerlane, He had with him as many as twenty horsemen, and fifteen 
camels laden with presents, which the Sultan sent to Tamerlane. Besides these there were six Ostriches, and an animal called 
formed in the following manner:—In body it was of the size of a horse, with the neck very long, 
jornufa, which animal was 
and the fore-legs much taller than the hind ones: the hoof was eloven like that of the ox. From the hoof of the fore-leg to 
the top of the shoulder, it was sixteen hands (palmos) ; and from the shoulder to the head sixteen hands more ; and when it 
raised its neck, it lifted its head so high as to be a wonder to all. The neck was like that of the stag; and so great was the 
disproportion of the length of the hinder legs to that of the fore-legs; that one who was not acquainted with it would think it 
was sitting, although it was actually standing. It had the haunches slanting like the buffalo, and a white belly. The skin was 
of a golden hue, and marked with large round white spots. In the lower part of the face it resembled the deer, on the fore- 
head it had a high and pointed prominence; very large and round eyes, and the ears like those of a horse; near the ears, 
two small round horns, the greater part covered with hair, resembling the horns of a deer on their first appearance. Such 
was the length of the neck, and the animal raised its head so high when he chose, that he could eat with facility from the 
top of a lofty wall; and from the top of a high tree it could reach to eat the leaves of which it devoured great quan- 
tities. So that altogether it was a marvellous sight to one who had never seen such an animal before,” * 
Prior to the arrival, in 1827, of two living specimens, sent by command of the Pacha of Egypt to the Courts of England 
and France, none had been seen in Europe since the end of the fifteenth century, when the Soldan of Egypt sent one to Lorenzo 
di Medici, This individual was represented in the frescoes of Poggio Acajano, near Florence, with the inhabitants of which city 
it was very familiar —being accustomed to walk at perfect liberty abont the streets, stretching its long neck to the balconies, to 
implore apples and other fruits, whereupon it delighted to feed.+ To modern Naturalists the species has been known only 
since its discovery in Southern Africa—no very precise account being obtained of its figure and habits, until within these last 
fifty years; and for these the world were principally indebted to the amusing and enthusiastic Le Vaillant, whose assertions, 
like those of many other travellers, were névertheless originally reeeived as pure fabrications. So early as the year 1774, a 
rude design, made from a specimen killed in an expedition two hundred leagues to the North of the Cape of Good Hope, 
was trausmitted by Governor Tulbagh to the Academy of Sciences, —and this drawing, together with the ill-stuffed skin of a 
young one, presented at the same time, first proved that the species was not confined to Ethiopia as originally surmised ; 
though it served also, by its incorrectness, to confirm the common error, into which even Buffon had been betrayed, of de- 
scribing the fore-legs to be twice as long as the hind, “ so that the ramp seems brought down to the ground, and the beast, 
when it sits on its erupper, appears to be entirely on end.{” “I saw,” says Belon, “at the castle of Cairo, an animal commonly 
called Zurnapa. It was anciently stiled by the Latins, Camelopardalis, a name compounded of leopard and camel; for it is 
sprinkled and variegated with the spots of a leopard, and has a long neck like the camel. It is a most beautiful creature, 
as gentle in its disposition as a sheep, and more amiable than any other wild beast. The legs are long and slender, and 
those behind are so low, that the animal seems to stand on end.” Such blunders as these have been long exploded; but even 
the improyed delineations of the present day, having been all derived from half-grown and stunted prisoners,$ limited to an 
enclosure which they could traverse from end to end in a few dozens of their ogre-like strides, are very far from being 
faithful portraits of the princely Zerapha, as he appeared to me in his native deserts. 
Where is the man who could behold the soil he treads upon, impressed with the recent footprints of this colossal qua- 
druped, and not experience emotions of the deepest interest? Who is he amongst the votaries of the chaste Goddess, that 
shall hear tell of riding familiarly by the side of a troop, ranging unfettered in their own wild abodes, and not feel the spirit 
stirred within him? The recollection of a spectacle so marvellous, and so animating, awakens in my own breast a tingling 
renewal of past impressions, more lively than any written description can render intelligible. The chord once touched—L have 
already in fancy’s wanderings left the haunts of men, and dived anew into pathless wastes, traversed only by the brute creation 
—into wide savannahs where the grim Lion prowls, and where the gaunt Hyznas and the wild dogs fearlessly pursue their prey. 
Though the glories of the African wilderness may have closed for ever on my view, so long as memory lasts they can neyer 
fade from my recollection. Intensely delightful is it to look back upon the sunny scenes that are past, and especially dear to 
my remembrance are the thrilling passages of which I am now to treat ;—but abler pens than mine, dipped even in the bright- 
est ink, would fail to represent the reality, and leave much to be supplied by the imagination. 
* Historia del Grand Tamerlan, &c. Madrid, 1782. 
+ Geoffroy 5t, Hilaire. 
¢ Buffon. 
§ The arrival in London, in 1836, of four Giraffes from Kordofan, formed quite an epoch in the annals of Natural History; and the highest praise must be 
awarded to M. Thibaut, throngh whose exertions these rare and delicate exotics, after being captured in a region of the globe so distant, were transported in health 
and safety over deserts of arid sand, and across the salt seas, to Northern shores. Accompanied by several Nubian attendants, they were led through the streets of 
the metropolis, before day-light, towards their final destination in Regent’s Park, the few persons who were abroad at that early hour, staring with amazement at a 
spectacle so noyel—four such groteaque figures with their keepers in Abyssinian costume, together with a mingled retinue of servants, forming a most singular caval- 
cade. 
