The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1892-07-16
GIRAFFES IN EUROPE.
THE DIFFICULTY OF OBTAINING
THEM FOR EXHlBlTlONs

THEM FOR ExHlBlTloNs
Julius Cesar Was the First to Import
Them for tho Amuscment and Enter
tainment of tho Roman Populacc.
England Saw Several In 1896.
The first giraffe seen in Europe since
the tertiary epoch was obtained from
Alexandria by julius Caesar and OK
hibited at the Circensiangames to crowds
who expected from its name, "camelo-
pard" to find in It q combination the
size Of a camel and the ferocity of a
panther Pliny, who described it, echoed
the public disappointment. at was as
quiet he wrote, "as a sheep
The trade probably reached its maxi
mum after it became the fashion to eX-
hibit combats Of wild beasts at Rome;
yet even then giraffes seem 20 have been
scarce in the popular shows, though
Pompey could exhibit 500 lions mt
time, and the Emperor Titus, at the ded-
ication of his new theater, caused the
slaughter OF 5000 wild beasts. Either
the number Of wild animals i'm the PROV
inces must have been beyond anything
since known, or the Roman governors
must have used their despotic powers
freely TO oblige their friends.
Despots are the best collectors, and
from the fall Of the Roman empire till
the arrival of those placed i'm the zuolog-
ical gardens in 1896 the rare appesr-
ovooa ,p t1,o fs;,.y 0, il, T7r,,,,,. ,,...,.g o.,
each case due to the muuiGcence of
eastern sultans and pasha5. The prince
of Damascus gave one to the Emperor
Frederick IL in 1915, and the soldan 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 not seen in Europe until in 1897 the
pasha of Egypt sent four to CONSTANT
nople, Venice, England and France re-
spectively.
The giraffe sent to England was in
bad health and soon died; but the Pari-
SLAMS went wild over the pasha's present.
1t had spent the winter at Marseilles,
and throve there on the milk of the cows
which the pasha had sent over for its
use from Egypt The prefect of Mar
seilles had the arms of France embroid-
cred on its body cloth, and it entered
Paris escorted by a Darfour negro, Has
san, an Arab; a Marseilles groom, a
mulatto interpreter, the prefect Of Mar
seilles himself and a professor from the
"Jardin des Plantes," 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 expenditure by
which, in 1886 NJ. Thibaut procured a
stool, of giraffes for the Geological so
ciety owed nothing to the patronage Of
the pasha Of Egypt beyond permission
to enter the Soudan The caravan left
the Nile near Dongola, and thence
passed on to the desert of Kordofan.
There M. Thibaut engaged the services
of the Arab sword hunters, whose skill
and courage were of such service to Sir
Samuel Baker in his expedition thirty
years later TO the sources Of the Nile
tributaries, and in two days they sighted
the giraffea.
A female with a fawn was first pur.
sued by the Arabs, who killed the ami
NAL 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 a 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 which
had been brought to supply it with milk
The Arabs were excellent nurses, and
taught the young creature to drink milB
by putting their fingers into It's moutl
and so inducing it to suck
Four others which NJ. Thibaut caught
died in the cold weather in the desert
But he replaced three of these anl
/ brought four, including the first taken
down the Nile to Alexandria, and thel
| by ship to Malta. providence alone,
he wrote, "enabled me to surmount these
| difficulties" From Malta they were
brought to London and safely lodged il
the geological gardens in the summer
of 1886. The largest was then ubou
eleven feet high, the height Of an adnl
male being twelve feet at the shoulder.
/ and eighteen feet at the head. Foi
many years, as we have said, the giraffe,
throve and multiplied. They readily
took to European food and ate hay ant
| fresh grass from the tall racks Will
| which their stables We're fitted.
Onions and sugar We're their favorit,
| delicacies, and in search of sugar they
would follow their keepers and slip theiI
long preheusile tongues into his hand.
or pockets. But they always retained
| liking for eating flowers, a remiais
cence perhaps OF the days when theil
| parents feasted on mimosa blossoms il
| the desert; some time ago one was seer
| to stretch its neck over the ratings an,
to delicately nip off an artificial rose ii
a young lady's hat They were most az
| fectionate creatur .d, as NJ, Thibaut
noticed when in of them in up
per Egypt, would .led tears if they
missed their companions or their usua
attendants.
But the development of the lachrymaI
ducts, which enable the giraffe 10 ex.
press its emotions in this very human
fashion, is less obvious than the won.
derful size and beauty of the eyes them
selves, which are far larger than those
of any other quadruped While the
mahdi's power remains unbrOken at
Khartoum there is little probability
that the Soudan traders will be able Ia
supply any giraffes to occupy the empty
house in Regents park.-London Spec
tator