The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-01-29

tinct.
THEY CAN RUN FAR BUT NOT
VERY FAST. Rss
| With the horse the chase of the giraffe
is rendered comparatively easy, as even
native hunters have, unfortunately for
the animal, long since found out. 1t 10
true that giraffes are possessed of very
considerable speed and great staying
power. But the secret of their downfall
| is very easily discovered. II the hunter
presses his horse at topmost speed with
whip and spur for the first two or three
miles of the chase, he can run right up
to his game, (unless the troop has gained
an inordinate start) and either shoot
the animal he singles out easily from the
saddle or turn 1t from its fellows and bring
| it shortly to staDdSt1ll.- at their own
pace giraffes can run for hours together.
| but, pressed beyond their speed, they be-
come winded and fall easy victims. A
solid lead bullet, planted somewhere near
the root of the giraffe's tail, penetratess
through the short body easily to vital
part, and the animal falls crashing to the
| earth With broken limb the giraffe is
at once disabled. Accomplished South
African hunters, and especially the Boei 8,
| if long way from camp, are accustomed,
l layllQ once IIlu Qh1lAy oostAt w
drive it before them for miles, and shoor
| it close to their own wagons. This IS
mastery operation, however, dependent
| somewhat upon the direction of the wind,
| and is only to be accomplished by skilled
| and veteran hunters.
The pace of the giraffe ia from its in
ordinate length of leg, wonderfully de-
| Ger tive Viewed for the first time troop
of these animals in their quieter PAGES ap-
par to be going very slowly. with ms
horse at canter the hunter quickly finds
out his mistake and presently presses
his mount to its utmost speed. LII the
country Is fairly open, and he is we'll
mounted and has fair start he may ex-
pect to ride up close to his quarry's sterns
at a hard gallop in fifteen minutes.
Pushed to their utmost speed troop OF
giraffes, which in their gliding walk
seemed to steal over the ground with ex-
traordinary ease and smoothness, exhibit
marked change in their action. At full
gallop the gait of these animals alters to
a series of awkward, bounding leaps,
| the long necks swing up and down, ana
| the long black tails, twisted over the
backs, are whirled rapidly round and
round with q loud swishing noise. which
can be splain1y heard as the rider ap-
proaches The giraffe. like the camel,
progresses by moving the two legs upon
one side of the body simultaneously; it
at top speed in its strange bounding gal
lop, with the hind legs straddled out very
wide, its action Is a very awkward one.
None the less the sight of q troop of gil
RATES. in motion is, from the magnificent
coloring of the creatures. their colossal
stature, their strangeness, and the rarity
of their occurrence, one of the most no.
table and extraordinary that even the At
rican hunter can hope to look upon.
And, assuredly, the spectacle OF large
troop of these animals browsing quietly
amid the open acacia forests, in which
they love to wander, ia one of the most
beautiful to be found in any part Of the
world.
During the chase strong, but not un-
pleasant, musky odor is often to be no.
ticed by the approaching hunter when
running this gigantic game. This odor,
which will often alarm horse unaccus-
toned to giraffe hunting, proceeds from
the bodies of the animals. In the old
males this musky scent increases, greatly
with age and the flesh OF the animal ls
rendered quite unpalatable. Stink
bulls is the ungraceful, if expressive
name bestowed by the blunt Beers upon
these old and worn out males, which,
having been driven by their younger RI
walls from the troop, are usually found
ranging the forests in melancholy soli-
tude. The flesh of young giraffes, and
especially VI d CONt Is CAUIOlliCly
good. somewhat like veal, with game
like favor. The tongue, about eighteen
inches to twenty inches in length, Is also
very good. But the marrow bones fur
nish the greatest luxury of the South
African hunting veldt A giraffe mar
row lone, about three feet in length,
roasted over the campfire and sawed in
half, furnishes. with the accompaniment
of toast or bread, a truly epicurean repast
for n colID1e of hungry men,
THEIR DEER LIKE CHARACTERIS-
TICS.
The extreme height OF a full-grown
male giraffe may be put down at nine
teen feet, or trihe over; that of ma
ture female at about seventeen feet.
These animals are practically defenseless.
When brought to a standstill they will
chop out dangerously with the fore feet,
If approached too closely, and occasion
ally among themselves they but with
their heads, but otherwise they are, Jun
fortunately, quite defenseless. Rutimey
er, the German naturalist, has very we'll
called the giraffe "a most fantastic form
Of deer In no point does this magnifi-
cent Quadruped more closely approach the
deer and antelope families than In the
eye, which is extremely peaublIQl-large,
melting, and of tender brown, shaded
by long lashes.
The North African form of giraffe,
which seems to have been known to the
Egyptians and Romans, and was ex
hibited by the latter in the arena, is as a
rule paler in color than its South African
congener. Even in troop of South Afri-
can giraffes, however, great variations in
color are to be noticed-from pale fawn in
the quite young animals to orange-tawny
and dark chestnut, while the old COWS
and bulls grow with increasing age al
most black upon the back. Quite recent
ly a new form has been discovered in So
maitland in which the chestnut colora-s1
;ion-noticeable in patches in all other
giraffes-covers nearly the whole surface
of the hide and is only separated by very
fine lines Of a creamy hue. At the begin
ming of this century giraffes were to be
found inhabiting Africa from the Dor
ders of Abyssinia down to the Orange
river, south of which it seems doubtful
whether their range ever extended. AT
the present time their distribution is far
more circumscribed, and they are not
now to be encountered in South Africa
until the Northern Kalahari, Khama's
countrv and Malta bplelaud are reached