The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-08-16
GRAPES ARE SCARCE.
r,a Difficulty Of Obtaining Them for
exhibition Purposes.
From the London Spectator.

EToD1 the London Spectator.
rha winter, like the DAYS Of pestilence be
80 +ba walls of Troy, has been fatal both
ian and beast. Even the carefully
.o.dad inmates OF the Geological Society
.ar5ans have not escaped, and as the new
.,aar onened with the death within week
StMSsIIv.n most human aud most intelli-
(,ant Of apes, and Of her neighbor, "I1m,"
arraat favorite of the
a. 4o,d6n public as the educated chin
LouTsa 80 the spring has seen the death Of
1.-Two beautiful giratfes the sole survivors
ia,t in the collection. The experience which
tbe society has had in maintaining Its stock
NJ these interesting creatures has not, how
srer been altogether discouraglng. Since
tbs first four specimens were brought to
TDoisnd in 1886 by NJ. Thibaut no less than
aagenteen fawns have been born In the gar
Sons and many of these lived to grow up.
Put the stock gradually diminished until in
1ef2 two were burned to death in their stable
and a third died Of old age, leaving only the
pair now LOST. ,
comedies with the complete interruption Of
the ancient trade in wild animals up the
valley of the Nile by the mShdTs occupa-
ton Of the Soudan, a trade as old as the
DAYS of Solomon-never organized, often
1ntarrupted for centuries yet always ready
n
Tor its rarest products on the free naviga-
tion of the river of Egypt. Giratfes, which,
not excepting the hippopotamus, have
most excited the imagination of Eu-
ropean capitalists, after the long inter-
walls in which they have remained Jun
seen by the nations Of the west, seem
always to have found their way hither from
the land Of the Pharaohs. The first seen in
Europe since the tertiary epoch was obtained
from Alexandria by Julius Cesar and
exhibited at Circassian games to crowds
who expected, from its name "camelopard, :"
to find it a combination of the size of
camel and the ferocity of a panther. Pliny,
who described it, echoed the public dis
appointment sit was as quiet" he wrote,
''as a sheep"
The trade probably reached its maximum
after It became the fashion to exhibit COM
bats Of wild beasts at Rome, yet even then
graffes seem to have been scarce in the
popular shows, though Pompey could ex-
Gbt 500 lions at time, and the Emperor
Titus at the dedication of his new theater.
caused the slaughter of 5000 wild beasts
Either the number of wild animals in the
provinces must have been beyond anything
aimee known, or the Roman governors must
have used their despotic powers freely to
oblige their friends. No doubt they did this.
DespOts are the best collectors, and from
the fall of the Roman empire till the arriV-
al of those placed in the geological gardens
40 1880 the rare appearances OF the giraffe
IN Europe were in each case due to the
munlhcence of eastern sultans and pashas.
The Prince of Damascus gave one to the
Emperor Frederick II. in 1915, and the
Sedan of Egypt presented another TO
Lorenzo the Magnificent, which became the
pet of Florence, and used to be allowed to
walk In the streets and take the presents
of fruit and cakes extended to it from the
balconies. From this time the giraffe was
Of NVrL N.wz.. -
ot Egypt sent four to Constantinople,
Venice, England and France, respect
lively. The giraffe sent to England was in
bad health and soon died, but the Parisians
went wild over the pasha's present. 1t had
spent the winter at Marseilles and throve
there on the milk Of the COWS that the pasha
had sent over for its use from Egypt The
project of Marseilles had the arms of France
embroidered on its body cloth, and it en-
tered Paris escorted by Darfour negro
Hassan, an Arab, a Marseilles groom a
mulatto interpreter, Che project of Mar
sees himself and a professor from the
Jardin des sPlantes. while troops kept
back the crowd. Thousands came every
day to see it, and men and women wore
gloves, gowns and waistcoats Of the color OF
its spots.
But the successful expedition by which,
IN 1886, NJ Tbibaut procured stock OF gil
RATES. for the geological society owed moth
beyond permission to enter the Soudan. The
caravan left the Nile near Dongola, and
thence passed on to the desert of Kordofan.
There NJ. Thibaut engaged the services OF
the Arab sword hunters, whose skill and
courage were Of such service to Sir Samuel
Baker In bis expedition thirty years later to
the sources of the Nile tributaries, and in
two days they sighted the giraffes. A female
with fawn was first pursued by the
ARABS, who killed the animal with their
swords and next day tracked and caught
the fawn IN the thorny mimosa scrub. For
-FOUR days the young giraffe was secured by
cord, the end Of which was held by one
of the Arabs; at the end of that time it was
perfectly tame. and trotted after the
caravan with the female camels, W hich had
been brought to supply it with milk. The
Arabs were excellent nurses, and taught
the young creature to drink milk by putting
thelr fingers into its mouth and so inducing
it to suck
Four Others which NJ. Thibaut caught
uled IN cold weather in the desert. But he
replaced three of these and brought four
Hcluulng the first taken, down tue Nile TO
AIIeAandrla, aud then by ship to Malta.
providence alone" he wrote, "enabled me
Surmount these difficulties" From Malta
Iuey were brought to London and safely
lodged In the geological gardens IN the SUM
IIer OF 1855 The largest was then about
Il'e'en Ieet high, the hight of an adult male
oslng twelve feet at the shoulders and
elgnteen feet at the head. For many
g years, as we have said, the giraffes throve
1Ia multiplied. They readily took to
European food and ate hay and fresh grass
IRON the tall racks with which their
etaoIes we're fitted. Onions and sugar were
InelF favorite delicacies, and in search Of
Sugaf they would follow their keeper aud
pup Their long prehensile tongues into his
aa,uS or pockets. But they always re-
;;a.eu liking for eating flowers a remin-
1uscence perhaps of the DAYS when their
b'leuts feasted on mimosa blossoms in the
uts'erG; some time ago one was seen to
JIe'ch It's neck over the ratings and to
ueucately nip off an artificial rose in a
lug lads hat. They were most affection
n'e creatures. aud, as NJ. Thibaut noticed
81 r "aen IN charge of them in Upper Egypt,
r "UuUl Sned tears if they missed their COM
FIpa.on' or their usual attendants.
H. Out the development Of the lachrvmal
"a itsS, which enable the giraffe to express
les. motions in this very human fashion, is
81 rs OBVIOUS than the wonderful size and
"a uIy OF the eyes themselves, which are
- 5arger than those Of any other quad
~ While the mahdis power remains
So nbi1i.nAeh at khartoum there is little prob
"a 1-''S mat the SOudan tradara will ha ahla