The camelopard [sic] is one of the most beautiful and largest
quadrupeds: without being noxious, he is at the same time extremely
useless. The enormous disproportion of his legs, of which those
before are double the length of those behind, prevents him from
exercising his powers. His body has no stability; he has a staggering
gait; and his movements are slow and constrained. When at liberty, he
cannot escape from his enemies, nor can he serve man [109] in
a domestic state. The species is not numerous, and has always been
confined to the deserts of Æthiopia, and to some provinces in
the south of Africa and India. As these countries were unknown to the
Greeks, Aristotle has made no mention of this animal. Pliny speaks of
it, and Oppian describes it in a manner which is by no means
ambiguous.* Camelopardalis, this [110] last author remarks,
has some resemblance to the camel. Its skin is spotted like that of
the panther, and its neck is as long as that of the camel. Its head
and ears are small, its feet large, and its legs long, but unequal,
those before being much taller than those behind, which are very
short, and seem to bring the rump of the animal down to the ground.
Upon the head, near the ears, there are two eminences like two small
straight horns. Its mouth resembles that of the stag; the teeth are
small and white, the eyes brilliant, the tail short, and garnished
with black hairs at the point. By adding to this description of
Oppian those of Heliodorus and Strabo, we shall have a pretty just
idea of the camelopard. The Æthopian ambassadors, says
Heliodorus, brought an animal of the size of a camel, whose skin was
marked with lively spots and brilliant colours, and whose posterior
parts were much lower than the anterior. The neck, though attached to
a pretty large body, was thin. The head, in figure, resembled that of
the camel, and, in size, it was not twice as large as that of the
ostritch. The eyes appear to be tinged with different colours. The
gait of this animal was different from that of all other quadrupeds,
who in walking lift their feet diagonally, that is, the right fore
foot with the left hind foot. But the camelopard ambles naturally,
lifting the two right or the two left feet together. It is a gentle
creature, and may be con- [111] ducted at pleasure by a small
cord put round its head.*
There is, says Strabo, a large animal in Æthiopia, called
camelopardalis, thought it has no resemblance to the panther;
for its skin is not spotted in the same manner. The spots of the
panther are circular, and those of the camelopard resemble the spots
of the fawn or young stag. The posterior parts of its body are much
lower than the anterior; so that, at the rump, it is not higher than
an ox, and at the shoulders it is higher than a camel. From this
disproportion of parts, its motions should not be quick. It is a mild
animal, does no mischief, and feeds upon herbs and
leaves.+
Belon is the first author who has given a good description of the
camelopard. “I saw,” says he, “at the caste of Cairo,
an animal commonly called Zurnapa. It was formerly denominated
Camelopardalis, a name compounded of leopard and camel; for it
is variegated with the spots of a leopard, and has a long
neck, like the camel. It is a most beautiful creature, as
gentle in his dispositions as a sheep, and more amiable than any
other wild beast. Its head is nearly similar to that of the stag,
except in size. Its horns are blunt, six inches long, and covered
with hair; those of the male are longer than those of the female.
Both male and female have large ears, like those of a cow, and a
black [112] tongue resembling that of an ox. it has no teeth
in the upper jaw. The neck is long, straight, and slender. The horns
are round and delicate, the legs long and slender, and those behind
are so low, that the animal seems to stand on end. Its feet resemble
those of an ox. Its tail, which hangs low as the hock, is round,
having hairs three times as gross as those of a horse. The hair on
the body is white and red. Its manner of running is similar to that
of a camel. When it runs, the two forefeet move together. It lies on
its belly, and has hard protuberances on its breast and thighs, like
the camel. When standing, it cannot browse the grass, without
spreading its fore feet very wide, and even then the operation is
performed with great difficulty; for which reason it could not live
in the fields, if it were not supplied with the leaves and sprigs of
trees.”*
The description of Gillius is still better than that of Belon.
“I saw, (says Gillius, chap. 9) three giraffes at Cairo. They
had two horns of six inches in length, and on the middle of the
front, a protuberance about two inches high, which resembled a third
horn. This animal, when he raises his head, is sixteen feet high; the
neck alone is seven feet; and the length, from the extremity of the
tail to the end of the nose, is twenty-two feet. The fore and
[113] hind legs are nearly of an equal height. But the fore
thighs are so disproportionally long that the back of the animal
inclines like the roof of a house. The whole body is marked with
large yellow spots, nearly of a square figure....It has cloven feet
like the ox. The upper lip protrudes beyond the under. The tail is
slender, with hairs at the point. It ruminates and eats herbage, like
the ox. Its mane extends from the top of the head along the back.
When it walks, its legs and flanks on both sides seem to be
alternately lame; and, when it browses herbage or drinks, it is
obliged to spread its fore legs prodigiously wide.”
Gesner quotes Belon for affirming that the horns of the giraffe fall
off like those of the fallow deer.*
I could never discover this fact in Belon. He only says, in the above
passage, that the horns of the giraffe are covered with hair. He
makes no other mention of this animal, except when treating of the
axis, where he remarks, “that the ground colour of the giraffe
is white, and that the large spots scattered over the body are
reddish, but not so red as those of the
axis.”+ This
fact, however, which I can no where discover, would be of great
importance in determining the nature of the giraffe; for, if its
horns shed annually, it belongs to the deer kind; and, on the other
hand, if its horns are perma- [114] nent, it must be referred
to the ox or goat kind. Until we obtain a distinct knowledge of this
fact, we cannot affirm, as our nomenclators have done, that the
giraffe belongs to the genus of stags; and it is astonishing that
Hasselquist, who has lately given a very long, and very inanimated
description of this animal, has said nothing concerning its nature.
After amassing methodically, that is, like a school-boy, a hundred
minute and insignificant characters, he says not a syllable regarding
the substance of the horns, and leaves us ignorant whether they are
solid or hollow, whether they shed or not, whether, in a word, they
are wood or horns. I here give
Hasselquist’s*
description, not on account of its utili- [115] ty, but of
its singularity, and, at the same time, to persuade travellers to use
their own eyes, and not to view objects through the medium of other
men’s: It is necessary to caution them against such methodical
arrangements, the authors of which lay reason aside, and believe
themselves wise in proportion to their want of genius. Have we
advanced a single step, after fatiguing ourselves with this
enumeration of minute, equivocal, and useless characters? Do not the
descriptions given by the antients and moderns, in the passages above
quoted, convey a more distinct picture, and clear ideas of this
animal? Figures supply all such trifling characters; it is the
province of history to mark those which are more important: A single
glance of the eye upon a good figure conveys more information than
[116] descriptions of this kind, which always become more
obscure in proportion to the minuteness.
In the year 1764, a drawing of the giraffe, accompanied with some
remarks, was sent to the academy of sciences, from which we learn,
that this animal, which was thought to be peculiar to
Æthiopia,* is likewise found in the neighbourhood of the Cape
of Good Hope. The figures is so incorrect, that no use can be made of
it; but, as the remarks contain a kind of description, they merit
insertion: “In an expedition, made in the year 1702, two hundred
leagues to the north of the Cape of Good Hope, we found the
camelopardalis, whose figure we have subjoined. The body resembles
that of an ox, and the head and neck those of a horse. All those we
met with were white with brown spots. It has two horns, and cloven
feet. The two we killed, and whose skins have been transmitted to
Europe, were of the following dimensions: The length of the head, one
foot eight inches; the height, from the extremity of the fore foot to
the withers, ten feet, and from the withers to the top of the head,
seven feet, in all seventeen feet high. The length [117] from
the withers to the reins is five feet six inches, an from the reins
to the tail, one foot six inches: Thus, the whole length of the body
is seven feet. The height, from the hind feet to the reins, is eight
feet six inches. From the disproportion in the height and length, it
appears that this animal can be of little use. He feeds upon the
leaves of tress; and, when he wants to drink, or to take any thing
from the surface of the earth, he is obliged to bend down on his
knees.”
In examining what the travellers have said concerning the giraffe, I
find they all agree, that the animal, when in its natural situation,
can reach with its head from sixteen to seventeen feet
high;* and that its
fore-legs are twice as long as the hind legs; so that, when it sits
on its crupper, it seems to be entirely on
end.+ They
[118] likewise agree, that, on account of this disproportion,
it cannot run quickly; that its dispositions are extremely mild;
that, by this quality, as well as by other physical habits, and even
by the form of the body, it approaches nearer to the nature of the
camel than any other animal; and that it is one of the ruminating
animals, and, like them, wants the cutting teeth in the upper jaw. We
likewise learn, from the testimony of some voyagers, that this animal
is found in the southern parts of Africa, as well as in those of
Asia.* [119]
From what we have related, it is evident, that the giraffe is a
peculiar species, and very different from all others. He seems,
however, to make a nearer approach to the camel that to the stag or
the ox. It is true the giraffe has two horns, and the camel has none:
But the other resemblances are so numerous, that I am not surprised
to see the appellation of Indian camel bestowed on him by some
travellers. Besides, we know not the substance of which the horns of
the giraffe are composed; and, consequently, we know not whether by
this part he approaches nearer to the stag or the ox: They may,
perhaps, be a substance very different from either. They may be
composed of a congeries of hairs; like the horns of the rhinoceros;
or they may be a substance of a peculiar texture. Nomenclators seem
to have been first led into the blunder of ranking the giraffe with
stags, by the pretended passage of Belon, quoted by Gesner, which, if
real, would be decisive of the point. They appear likewise to have
misunderstood what has been mentioned by authors concerning the hair
of these horns. They imagined that these writer had said, that the
horns of the giraffe were clothed with hair, like the new sprung
horns of the stag; and hence concluded that they were of the same
nature. We see, on the contrary, from the notes above quoted, that
they horns of the giraffe are only surrounded with hair, and have a
tuft of large coarse hairs at the [120] point, and not
clothed with a down or velvet, like those of the stag. From this
circumstance, it is not improbable, that the horns of the giraffe are
composed of a congeries of hairs nearly in the same manner as those
of the rhinoceros: Their blunt or truncated points seem to favour
this idea. Besides, if we consider that, in all animals which carry
wood instead of horns, as the elk, the rain-deer, the stag,
the roebuck, &c. this wood is always divided into branches
or antlers, and that, on the contrary, the horns of the giraffe are
simple, and consist but of one stem, we will be convinced that they
are not of the same nature, unless analogy, in this instance, be
entirely violated. The tubercle on the front, which appears to be a
third horn, strengthens this opinion. The two horns, which are not
pointed, but blunt at the extremities, are perhaps only tubercles of
a greater length than the former. The females, according to the
testimony of all travellers, have horns as well as the males, only
they are somewhat smaller. If the giraffe really belonged to the
deer-kind, analogy would again suffer violation; for, among all the
animals of this kind, none of the females, except the female rain
deer, have horns, and we have given the reason for this phaenomenon.
On the other hand, as the giraffe, on account of the excessive height
of its limbs, cannot feed upon herbage, but with great difficulty; as
its chief and almost only food consists of the leaves and
[121] buds of trees, it may be presumed, that the substance
of the horns, which are the most conspicuous residue of the organic
particles derived from the food, is analogous to wood, like that of
the stag. Time will confirm one or other of these conjectures. A
single word more added to Hasselquist’s minute description would
have determined the genus of this animal. But schoolboys, who have
only their master’s gamut in their heads, or rather in their
pockets, must perpetually blunder, and make the most essential
omissions; because they renounce that spirit of research which ought
to guide every observer, and see only through the false medium of
arbitrary arrangements, which prevents them from reflecting on the
nature and relations of the objects they meet with, and obliges them
to describe upon a bad model. As every object differs materially from
another, the whole should be treated in a different manner. A single
character happily discovered, is more decisive, and conveys more
knowledge of the subject than a thousand minute and trifling
features; for, in proportion to their number, they necessarily become
equivocal and common, and, of course superfluous, if not hurtful to
the real knowledge of Nature, who sports with the rules we prescribe
to her, soars above all methodical distributions, and can only be
perceived by the penetrating eye of genius. [122]
We here give the figure of the giraffe from a drawing transmitted
to us from the Cape of Good Hope, which we have rectified in some
points the information of Mr Bruce. With regard to the horns of this
animal, we are still uncertain whether they are permanent like those
of the ox, antilope, goat, rhinoceros, &c. or whether they are
annually renewed like those of the deer-kind. They seem to grow
during the first years of the animal’s life; but they never rise
to a great height; for the longest which have been seen exceeded not
twelve or thirteen inches; and they are generally not above six or
eight inches. We are indebted to M. Allamand, a celebrated Professor
at Leyden, for the exact knowledge we have obtained concerning these
horns. The following is an extract of a letter he wrote on this
subject to M. Daubenton, dated October 31. 1766.
“I have the honour to inform you, that I am in possession of a stuffed giraffe. both you and M. de Buffon have expressed a desire to know the nature of its horns. I have cut off one of them, which I send you, that you may have a more exact idea of it. You will remark, that this giraffe was very young. The Governour of the Cape, from whom I re- [123] ceived it, writes me, that it was killed when lying near its mother. Its height is about six feet, and its horns, of course, are short, not exceeding two inches and a half. They are every where covered with kin and hairs; and those at the point are much longer than the others, and form a pencil, the height of which exceeds that of the horn. The base of the horn is more than an inch broad, and consequently forms an obtuse cone. To discover whether it was hollow or solid, I sawed it through longitudinally, along with a portion of the skull to which it adhered. I found it to be solid, and a little spongy, because it had not yet acquired all its consistence. Such is its texture, that it appears not to be composed, like that of the rhinoceros, of hairs united together; and it resembles the horns of the stag more than those of any other animal. I would even say, that there is no difference between these two substances, if I were certain, that a horn, lately sent to me under that name, was really the horn of a giraffe. It is straight, half a foot long, and pretty much pointed. There still remain some vestiges of the skin with which it had been covered; and it differs from a stag’s horn only in figure. If these observations are not sufficient, I shall with pleasure send you the two horns, that you may examine them along with M. de Buffon. With regard to this animal, I should farther remark, [124] that the alledged difference between its fore and hind legs seems to be greatly exaggerated; for it is hardly perceptible in my young giraffe.”
Besides these horns which are found on the head of the female
giraffe, as well as on that of the male, there is, at almost an equal
distance between the nostrils and eyes, a remarkable excrescence,
which seems to be a bone covered with a soft skin, and garnished with
smooth hair. This osseous excrescence is more than three inches long,
and is much inclined toward the front, or makes a very acute angle
with the bone of the nose. The colour of this animal’s robe is a
bright shining yellow, and the spots are, in general, rhomboidal.
It is extremely probably, from the inspection of these horns, which
are solid, and resemble in substance the horns of the stag, that the
giraffe may be ranked in the same genus: Of this there could not
remain a doubt, if we were certain that he shed his horns annually.
But it is now unquestionable that he ought to be separated from the
ox-kind, and other animals whose horns are hollow. Meanwhile, we
shall consider this large and beautiful animal as constituting a
particular and solitary genus, which corresponds very well with the
other facts in Nature, who, in voluminous species, never doubles her
productions. The elephant, the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, and
perhaps the giraffe, are ani- [125] mals forming particular
genera, or solitary species, who have no collaterals. This is a
privilege which seems to be conferred solely on animals which greatly
surpas [sic] all others in magnitude.
In a letter I received from Holland, the subscription of which was
illegible, I had the following description of a giraffe.
“Africa produces no animal more beautiful or more curious than the giraffe. From the point of the nose to the tail, he is twenty-five feet long. He has received the name of Camelopard, because he somewhat resembles the camel in the figure of his head, the length of his neck, &c. and because his robe is variegated with irregular spots, like that of the leopard. He is found at twenty-four leagues from the Cape of Good Hope, and is still more frequent at greater distances. The teeth of this animal are similar to those of the stag. His horns are a foot long: They are straight as a man’s arm, garnished with hair, and seem to be truncated at their extremities. The neck constitutes at least one half of the length of the animal, which, in figure, pretty much resembles that of a horse. The tail would also be pretty similar, if it were equally furnished with hair as that of the horse. The legs are like those of the stag; the feet are garnished with very black, obtuse, and widely separated hoofs. When the animal leaps, he first raises [126] the two fore feet, and then those behind, as a horse would do who had his two fore feet tied together. He runs slowly, and with a bad grace: He may be easily overtaken in the chace [sic]. He carries his head always high, and feeds only on the leaves of trees, being unable to pasture on the ground, on account of his great height. When he drinks, he is obliged to rest on his knees. The females are generally of a bright yellow colour, and the males of a brownish yellow. Some of them are nearly white, with brown or black spots.”
“M. de Buffon, with much propriety, blames our modern nomenclators, because, when treating of the giraffe, they are silent with regard to the nature of his horns, which alone can form a criterion to ascertain the species to which he belongs; and because they give dry and minute descriptions, without adding a figure. We shall endeavour to supply both these defects.
“M. Allamand, professor of natural history in the university of Leyden, is in possession of the stuffed skin of a young giraffe. He obligingly communicated to us a drawing of it, which we caused to be engraven; and he added the following description.
“M. Tulbagh, Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, who has enriched our academical cabinet with many rare productions of nature, writes me, that the young giraffe in our possession was killed by his hunters at a considerable distance from the Cape, when lying near its mother, whom it still sucked. Hence it appears, that the giraffe is not peculiar to Æthiopia, as Thevenot has alledged.
“As soon as I received it, I examined the horns, with a view to elucidate M. de Buffon’s doubt with regard to their substance. They are not hollow like those of oxen and goats, but solid, and nearly of an uniform texture, like those of the stags, from which they differ only in being thinner, straighter, and not divided into branches, or antlers. They are totally covered with the skin of the animal; and, for three fourths of their length, this skin is furnished with short hair, similar to that which covers the body. Toward the points, the hair becomes longer, rises about three inches above the blunt end of the horns, and is of a black colour. Hence it is very different from the down of the young horns of the stag.
“These horns appear not to be composed of united hairs, like those of the rhinoceros. Their texture is likewise totally different. When sawn through longitudinally, we perceive that they consist of a hard plate, which [128] constitutes their external surface, and inclosed a spongy substance. This, at least, is the case with the horns of my young giraffe. Perhaps the horns of adults are more solid. M. de Buffon is now in a condition to determine this point; for, along with the horns of my giraffe, I sent him another belonging to one more advanced in years, which a friend of mine received from the East Indies.
“Though these horns are solid, like those of the stag, I suspect that the animal does not shed them annually. They seem to be an excrescence of the frontal bone, like the bone which serves as a nucleus to the hollow horns of oxen and goats; and, consequently, it is impossible that they can fall off. If this conjecture be well founded, the giraffe constitutes a particular genus, perfectly distinct from the animals who shed their horns, and also from those who have hollow, but permanent horns.
“In the middle of the front of adult giraffes, there is a protuberance which seems to be the rudiments of a third horn. No such protuberance appeared in our giraffe; probably because it was too young.
“All the authors, both antient and modern, who describe this animal, tell us, that the fore legs are twice as long as the hind ones. They could not possibly be deceived concerning a character so striking. But I can affirm, that, in this article, the giraffe must change greatly [129] in growing; for, in our young one, the hind legs were equally long those before. This circumstance, however, prevents not the anterior part of the giraffe from being higher than the posterior, which is owing to the difference in the thickness of the body, as may be seen in the figure. But this difference is by no means so great as has been represented.
“The neck of the giraffe is the first thing which strikes a spectator. It is longer than that of any other quadruped, not excepting the camel, who, besides, folds his neck in different ways, which the giraffe seems to be incapable of performing.
“His colour is a dirty white, interspersed with yellowish spots, very near each other on the neck, more distant on the rest of the body, and of a figure which approaches to a parallelogram or rhomb.
“The tail is slender, in proportion to the length and stature of the animal. Its extremity is garnished with a tuft of black hairs, which are seven or eight inches long.
“The mane is composed of reddish hair, three inches long, and inclined toward the hind part of the body. It extends from the head along the neck, and down to the middle of the back; and, at the distance of some inches, it is again continued; but the hair inclines toward the head. It seems to recommence near the origin, and to extend to the [130] extremity of the tail: But the hairs are short, and scarcely to be distinguished from those which cover the rest of the body.
“The eye-lids, both superior and inferior, are garnished with a range of very stiff hairs. There are similar hairs, but thinly scattered, round the mouth.
“The aspect of the giraffe indicates a mild and docile animal; and this is the character given of him by those who have seen him alive.
"The description of the giraffe, added to what M. de Buffon has collected from different authors, and acompanied with the figure, is sufficient to give us more exact ideas concerning this animal than we had hitherto obtained.”
M. Alamand’s great knowledge and accuracy, in every subject
of which he treats, are apparent from the above description. I would
have copied his engraving, if his giraffe had not been too young. The
figure I have given is that of an adult. I shall only remark, that I
suspect the longest of the horns he was so obliging as to send me,
does not belong to a giraffe. The short ones are very thick, while it
is very thin, in proportion to their respective lengths. In the
anonymous description above related, it is said, that the horns of
the adult giraffes are a foot in length, and as thick as a
man’s arm. If the horn under consideration, which is half a
foot long, [131] really belonged to a giraffe, it ought to be
double its present thickness. Besides, this pretended horn of a
giraffe is so similar to the first horns of a young stag, that it may
be regarded as belonging to the latter animal.
As to the nature of the giraffe’s horns, I am inclined to adopt
M. Alamand’s opinion. The protuberance on the front, which is
unquestionably osseous, makes a kind of third horn. The horns adhered
to the cranium, without the support of the moulds; and, consequently,
ought to be considered as osseous prolongations of the bones of the
head. The hair which surrounds and overtops them has no resemblance
to that which covers the young shoots of the stag, or fallow deer.
This hair seems to be permanent, as well as the skin from which it
issues. Hence the horn of the giraffe is a bone, and differs from
that of the ox by its covering, the latter being surrounded with a
horny substance, or hollow horn, and the former with hair and
skin.
*The camelopard has short horns, covered with hair, truncated at
the end, and tufted with hair. In the forehead, there is a tubercle
about two inches high, resembling a third horn. The height, from the
crown of the head to the soles of the fore feet, is seventeen feet,
and that from the top of the rump to the bottom of the hind feet,
only nine: The length of the body is seven, and from the withers to
the loins only six feet. The fore-legs are not longer than the hind
legs; but the shoulders are of a vast length, which give the
disproportionate height between the fore and hind parts. the horns
are six inches long. The head is like that of a stag. The neck is
slender and elegant, and on the upper side there is a short mane. The
ears are large, and the tail long, with strong hairs at the end. The
colour of the whole animal is a dirty white, marked with large,
broad, rusty spots; Pennant’s Synops. of quad. p.20.
Giraffe, a word derived from Girnaffa,
Sirapha,Zurnaba, the name of this animal in the Arabian
language, which has been adopted by the modern Europeans.
Camelopardalis in Greek and Latin. Pliny gives the etymology
of this compound name. “Camelorum,” he remarks,
‘aliqua similitudo in aliud transfertur animal, Nabin
Ethiopes vocant. Collo similem equo, pedibus et cruribus bovi, camelo
capite; albis maculis rutilum colorem distinguentibus, unde appellate
Camelopardalis: Dictatoris Caesaris Circensibus ludis primum
visa Romae; ex eo subinde cernitur, aspectu magis quam seritate
conspicua: Quare etiam ovis serae nomen invenit; Hist. nat.
lib. 8 cap. 18.
La Giraffe, which the Arabs call Zuraapa; Belon.
Obs. p. 118. Leo Afric. p. 337. Gesner
quad. p. 160. Raii Synops quad. p. 90. Brisson.
quad. p. 37
Camelopardalis, Camelopardalin sacrae litterae vocant
Zamer. Deuter. 14. Ubi Chaldaica translatio habet Deba;
Arabica, Saraphah; Persica, Seraphab; Septuaginta
Camelopardalin; Hieronimus Camelopardum; Gesmer, hist. quad.
p. 147. fig. p. 149 ubi legitur, Camelopardalus, icon ex charta
quandem nuper impressa Norimbergae ---------Surnapa nomine
altitudine ad summum verticem supra quinque orgyas, corniculis duobus
serrei coloris, pilo levi et composito pulchro; diligenter et probe
depictum Constantinopoli et in Gernaniam transfissum, anno 1559.
Camelopardalis; Plin. lib. 8. c. 18. Dion Cassus,
lib. 43. Praenest. pavem. Shaw’s supplement,
p. 88. Oppian. cyneg. lib. 3. l. 466. Aldrov de
quad. bisulc. p. 927. fig. p. 931. Prosper Alpin, hist.
Egypt. tom. 2. p. 236. tab. 14. fig. 4.
Tragus giraffa; Klein. quad. p. 22.
Cervus camelopardalus, cornibus simlicissimis,
pedibus anticis longissimis; Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 92.
[back
to page 109].
*Oppian. de Venat. lib. 3 [back
to page 110].
*Heliodorus, lib. 10 [back
to page 112]
+Strabo, lib. 16, et 17 [back
to page 112]
*Observ. de Belon, p. 118 [back
to page 113]
*Giraffis et damis cornua cadunt; Belon, Gesner. hist. quad.
p. 148 [back to page 114].
+Observ. de Belon, p. 120 [back
to page 114].
*Cervus camelopardalis. Caput prominens, labium superius crassum,
inferius tenue; nares oblongae, amplae; pili rigidi, sparsi in utroq
ue labio anterius et ad latera. Supercilia rigidia, distinctislima,
serie una composita. Oculi ad latera capitis, vertici quam rostro, ut
et fronti quam collo, propiores. Dentes, lingua, cornua
simplicissima, cylindrica, brevissima, basi crassa, in ertice capitis
sita, pilosa basi pilis longissimis rigidis tecta, apice pilis
longioribus erectis, regidissimis, apicem longitudine superantibus,
cincta. Apex cornuum in medio horum pilorum obtusus nudus. Eminenta
in fronte, infra cornua, inferius oblonga humilior, superius
elevatior, subrotunda, postice parum depressa, inaequalis. Auricula
ad latera capitis infra cornua pone illa posita. Colium erectum,
compressum, ongissimum, versus caput angustissimum, inferius
latiusculum. Crura cylindrica anterioribus plus quam dimidio
longioribus. Tuberculum crassum, durum in genuflexum. Ungues bisulci,
ungulati. Pili brevissimi universum corpus, caput, et pedes tengunt.
Linea pilis rgidis longioribus per dorsum a capite ad caudam extensa.
Cauda teres, lumborum dimidia longitudine, non jubata. Color totius
corporis, capitis, ac pedum ex maculis suscis et ferrugineis
variegatus. Maculae palmari latitudine, figura irregulari, in vivo
animali ex lucidiori et obscuriore variantes. Magnitudo cameli
minoris, longtiduo totius a labio superiore ad finem dorsi spith. 24.
Longitudo capitis spith. 4, colli spith. 9 ad 10, pedum anter. spith.
11 ad 13, poster. spith. 7 ad 8, longit. longit. pilorum in dorso
poll. 3. latitud. capitis juxta tuberutrinque prope caput spith. 1/2,
prope maxillam spith. 1. colli spith. 2 ad 3, latitud. Lat. abd.
anterius spith. 4, poster. spith 6 ad 7. crassities pellis aut corii
cervi vlugaris...Descriptio antecends juxta pellem animalis factam;
snimal vero nondum vidi; Voyag. d’Hasselquist, Rostock
1762 [back to p.
115].
*The giraffe is no where found but in Æthiopia. I sw two tame
ones in the royal palace. I remarked, that, when they wnated to
drink, they were obliged to spread the forelegs very wide, otherwise,
though their necks were long, they could not reach the water. What I
relate, I saw with my eyes; Relation de Thevenot, p. 10
[back to p.
117].
*Prosper Alpinus is the only author who give a different idea of the
magnitude of this animal, by comparing it to a small horse:
“Anno 1581, Alexandriae vidimus camelopardalem, quem Arabes
zurnap et nostri giraffam appellant; haee equum parvum
elegatissimumque representare videtur;” p. 236. There is
every reason to believe, that the giraffe seen by Prosper Alpinus was
very young, and had by no means acquired its full growth. The same
remark may be made with regard to the skin described by Hasselquist,
which he says was of the size of a small camel
[back to page
118].
+ The fore feet of the giraffe are twice as long as those behind,
which, by supporting in a long straight slender body, raises the fore
part of the animal to a prodigious height. Its head nearly resembles
that of a stag, except that its blunt horns exceed not half a foot in
length. Its ears are long, like those of a cow, and it has no teeth
in the upper jaw. Its hairs are round and fine, its limbs slender,
resembling those of a stag, and its feet are like those of a bull.
Its body is very slender, and the colour of its hair resembles that
of the lynx. In manners and disposition, it resembles the camel;
Voyage de Villamont, p. 688.------ I saw at the castle of
Cairo, two giraffes. Their neck was longer that that of the camel,
and they had two horns, of half a foot in length, on the top of the
head, and a small one on the front. The two fore legs were very long,
and the hind ones remarkably short; Cosmographie du Levant, par
Thevet, p. 142 [back
to page 118].
*In the island of Zanzibar, in the neighbourhood of Madagascar, there
is a certain quadruped called graffe or giraffe, which
has a neck about a fathom and half in length, and its fore legs are
muc longer than those behind. Its head is small, and of different
colours, as well as the body. This animal is very mild and tame, and
never injures any person; Descript. des Indes Orientales, par Marc
Paul, liv. 3. p. 116. ----- Giraffa animal adeo sylvaticum ut
raro videri possit..... homines videns in sugam fertur, tametsi non
sit multae velocitatis; Leon. Afric. Descript. Afric. tom.
2 p. 745 [back to page
119].