Evening star., 1902-01-25

legs are ringed with alternate black and
white bars up TO the shoulder. while the
rear legs have q black bracelet just above
ehe moor. then q white area 10 the first
joint: from there on to the base OF the tai
the skin Is marked With dazzling waving
sttspes or white, which extend from the
reer forward. giving the animal a most
s''1Hing and extraordinary appearance.
Science VIII Exserninsse.
That the okspi is on the verge OF extinc-
sion there Is little doubt, the natives esti-
mating that there are broken bands on the
Semiftd aggregating 2ooe individuals. Every
| museum IN the world win desire specimens
and duplicates OF this new geological won
DER and the collectors who provide mu-
| seums win soon ind its hauuts. and the
okapL like many other forms-Steller's
rhy<ina, the buffalo. the great aux and
tinct-
The okapi Is related to the American
proag-horned antelope and is the only liv-
ing representative OF the fossil heiladothe-
rum. which. 80 far as known lived in
oreece ana Asia Minor millions OF years
ago. The giraffe has three singular prorni-
nences covered with flesh, aud the extinct
cousin. the helladotherium may be consid-
cred degenerate giraffe tn which the
cores or horns have almost disappeared
The African natives are famous for at
tempting to excite the credulity of the white
man. Long ago they discovered that rare
alaAtfldAS were priced equally With large
tusks and fine horns: hence, the sportsman
and naturalist In the dark continent are be-
sieged by impecunious natives. who insist
that they can lead them TO some rare and
hitherto unknown animal: and IL the vic
tim is easily deceived he is sometimes taken
miles out of his way to find the rara avis
to be some well-known form. Hence. these
native discoveries are taken with a grain
or salt After Sir Harry Johnston had dis
covered the okapl the natives said that
there was still another animal which the
white man had never seen. IL was not a
glraHe. but like one. with long neck. long
legs. striped but, while the giraffe had
three, this new and strange beast had i've
horns.
The Ffve-Horned Giraffe.
This was almost too much to believe: but.
having discovered the relative Of the hella-
dotheriurn. Sir Harry was in a receptive
humor; so he told the natives TO lead him
to the forest where they had seen the Ave
horned giraffe, and forthwith they set out
upon the journey. He was taken to the
wild and little-known region lying east OF
Mount Elson, in the Uganda protectorate
where game of all kinds was extremely
abundant evidently not having been dis
turbed. On the outer fringe of a forest OF
low trees the party came upon herd of
gfraffes. the animals standing like statues,
really the most remarkable and striking OF
living forms. Upon seeing the strangers
they broke into a run and clumsy as they
were, soon outdistanced the natives. and
led Sir Harry a hard race over a rough
country. But so heavy and ungainly an
animal cannot long continue a fast pace.
and. finally overtaking the herd, Sir Harry
brought down one of the largest bulls.
which, upon coming up to 1t, he found bore
upon its head the five horns prophesled by
the natives-a new species. the five-horned
giraffe. one of the most interesting addi-
tions TO science OF the century. No two
events-the discovery of the okapi and the
five-horned giraffe-have occasioned so
much interest in the field of zoology for
many years as they demonstrate the fact
that large animals may yet remain con-
cealed and undiscovered in the heart OF the
dark continent.