The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-10-16
GIRAFFE HUNTING.
AHUNTING PARTY MOUNTED ON THE
SWEETEST DROMEDARIES.
Riding BarebaCk-The Hunters Frugal
Fare-A Desperate, Frantic Chase
Securing the Game Danger on
Horseback-Close Quarters.
frank Leslie's Magazine.l

Frank Leslie's MagazineI
In quaintness of exterior no African
beast surpasses the giraffe. which may be
considered as Characteristic of the torrid
soil OF the upper Nile, as the emu or kan
CARGO is of Australia It's gigantic frame
sometimes reaches the height of twenty
feet; its skin is most conspicuous for the
regularity and beauty of its brown or
reddish triangle or square shaped dOttings;
Its eyes for a sOftness of expression.
The giraffe received, il is said, its pres
ent Arabian name from the elegance of
Its motion. 1t avoids the tropical rests
and their entangIing creepers, and is not
found either among the sleeper hills 1t
thrives best amdhg the acacias and bau-
hinias of the South African plains, In the
grass covered lands of Southern Nubia,
and in the shrubs and bushes of SEMINAR,
where the ground resembles a carpet in
terwoyen with the most beautiful lilies
and other flowers. The olfactory and
auditory senses are most sharply devel-
Oped, and it is by no means easy for any
hunter to approach them so near as to
kill them, even with a rifle ball.
The most general and successful method
of hunting this noble animal is the one
practiced by the sword hunters or Agga-
geers, in southern Nubia. Several Sen
mar tribes, as the Tungi negroes and the
Abu-Rof BedOuins, delight in this kind
of sport. They are mounted on the
swiftest dromedaries, and as soon as a
flock of giratfes has been espied in the
steppe the hunters assemble. They use
no saddle, and can keep therefore, on the
top of the fatty pTotuberance only by
firm appliance and grasp of their muscu
lar knee oints. Their bodies are of
dark bronze hue, and are always shining
with an abundance of grease; no garments
cover their limbs, cept long strip of
cotton fastened around the hip and the
shoulder From the left shoulder bangles
the long and broad cross hilted sword
sheathed In a reddish colored leather
scabbard
The party is followed at some distance
by an attendant who carries water in
leather bag and raw sorghum grains pre-
viously soaked in water This food,
called belieh, with a mouthful Of water.
constitutes all the food that the frugal
giraffe hunter stands in need Of
The hunt continues all day long amidst
the tough and thorny shrubs, diminutiye
palm trees, some not unlike our palmetto,
amid large cactus like euphorbias, and
thiclets filled with llianas and creepers
The images of blue distant mountains
sometimes emerge to a monstrous height
above the horizon, owing to the deceitful
reflection of a Fata. morgana. which has
proved disastrous to many an exhausted
traveller in the bowling wilderness and
sandy deserts of the African continent
A careful search has finally revealed
the spot where a little flock of giraffes
had gathered The hunting company APP
proaches most noiselessly, hiding itself
when possible behind trees and thickets
When near enough the riders emerge
from the thickets, and by loud clicks ex-
cite the dromedaries to speed on with
thsiT utmost power after the game They
Their draw their swords, their strange
hunting weapon, the blades glittering
brightly in the sunbeams The doomed
victims soon become aware of their perse-
cutoTs, and 10 their rapid flight wave
their long necks forward and backward.
Dry branches break and crack under
the step of their quickly moving hoofs;
stones, pebbles, roots, and earth are
Whirled In all directions, and clouds of
dust iii the atmosphere.
In desperate, frantic chase the hunter
follows the game, which cunningly tries
30 eVade or outstrip its unmerciful pur
euer by cross steps and Jumps; but the
dsspondent look of the exhausted viCtim
already presages that its doom is sealed
and that an escape is utterly impossible
The velocity of the pursued is no longer
equal to that of the pursuer, and, wheK
its pace begins to slacken, the livid tongue.
covered with froth. protrudes out of the
mouth, and the glaring, desperate eye
balls starting from their sockets exhibit
the anxiety By which the animal is con
sumed
When the hunter has arrived at suf-
ficientIy short distance, he leans forward
on his seat. takes aim, and with his pom
derous sword hamstTings his victim.
Rarely Is second blow needed to fell the
colossal frame of the pursued giraffe
The animal falls painting into the grass,
or crouches down upon its hind legs in
commissions. and kicks to right and left,
. III. .r,tn do Of
BY a loud cry, Tachu ell Hami-lillahii"
Thanks to Cod "Allah- Kerim!" God is
mercifuD our Nubian sportsman an
nounces his victory and calls together his
companions in the chase. Those who are
not actually engaged in pursuing or Stay
ing another victim from all sides readily
respond TO the call They dismount
from their dromedaries and dispatch the
victim by few sword cuts into the throat
and the extremites They tay the ami
NAL on the spot and divide the meat
among the party, who cut il lengthwise
into strips When the meat has been
thoroughly dried in the sun it is used as
provision, and stands in high favor with
hunters and travellers.
Almost every part of the CRATES body
serves 10 some useful purpose of the
negro Its skin is tanned, and furnishes
excellent material for shields and sandals;
the bushy end of the tail becomes fan
or hap To keep OH illeS ana mosquitoes;
even the pelvis yields its bony frame to
the lammeg negro who turns it into
ban o and sings 10 its tune his love-songs
and war exploits.
0ung girai. es are easily caught alive
when the parent animals have been killed
or dispersed, for, helpless as they are.
they surrender TO their pursuers after
yer. short chase; and when they have
grown to more advanced age, they are
Captured almost in the same way as the
Guaranis on the Plata in South America,
Yasso their wild horses.