p. 10 | NOW THE GIRAFFE

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 7, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 14.

NOW THE GIRAFFE.

The elephant is rapidly being exterminated; the rhinoceros and hippopotamus have already been virtually exterminated; and now the same process, for the same reason, is being applied to the giraffe. The hide of these animals, upon the upper parts, attains a thickness of an inch and from it are fashioned sandals, shields, and whips. Little could be done in the way of destroying them until firearms and horses were introduced into Africa. They are shy and suspicious. They can live for long periods without touching water. They possess considerable speed and great staying power, and can not be overtaken except by the horse. They can run all day, but if pressed beyond their speed, they become winded. The extreme height of a full-grown male is nineteen feet; that of a female, about seventeen. The animals are practically defenseless. All they can do is to “chop out dangerously with the fore feet if approached too closely,” and among themselves they butt. Like the camel, they progress by moving the two legs upon one side of the body simultaneously. A correspondent of a London paper says that a troop of giraffes 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 notable and extraordinary sights that the African hunter can hope to look upon. Their flesh is extremely good, something like veal, with a game-like flavor. The tongue, about twenty inches long, is good. “A giraffe marrow bone, about three feet in length, roasted over the camp fire and sawn into halves, furnishes, with the accompaniment of toast or bread, a truly epicurean repast for a couple of hungry men.”

We have seen the buffaloes disappear. We know how it is done. One day the writer saw seventeen buffaloes shot in mere wantonness from one of the early trains crossing the continent. For twenty-seven miles on that tour we were never out of sight of buffaloes, and twenty thousand at least were seen by us. Such is “the remorseless stride of man.”—The Christian Advocate.