The Weekly Butte Record

Hunting the Giraffe.

The time had now arrived when the towering giraffe was to be laid low; and we confess that the pleasure with which we read the Captain's account of this sport is not without alloy, from the bearing of these splendid and harmless animals under the deadly persecution.

To the sportsman, says the Captain, the most thrilling passage in my adventures is now to be recounted. In my own breast it awakens a renewal of past impressions, more lively than any written description can render intelligible; and far abler pens than mine, dipped in more glowing tints, would still fall short of the reality, and leave much to be supplied by the imagination. Three hundred gigantic elephants browsing in majestic tranquility amidst the wild magnificence of an African landscape, a wide-stretching plain, darkened as far as the eye can reach with a moving phalanx of gnus and quaggas, whose numbers literally baffle computation, are sights but rarely to be witnessed; but who amongst our brother Nimrods shall hear of riding familiarly by the side of a troop of colossal giraffes, and not feel his spirit stirred within him? He that would behold so marvelous a sight must leave the haunts of man, and dive, as we do, into pathless wilds traversed only by the brute creation, into wide wastes where the grim lion prowls, monarch of all he surveys, and where the gaunt hyena and wild dog fearlessly pursue their prey.

Many days have now elapsed since we had even seen the camelopard, and then only in small numbers, and under the most unfavorable circumstances. The blood coursed through my veins like quicksilver, therefore, as on the morning of the 19th, from the back of Breslau, my trusty steed, with a firm wooden plain before me, I counted thirty-two of these animals industriously stretching their peacock necks to crop the tiny leaves which fluttered above their heads, in a mimosa-grove that beautified the scenery. They were within a hundred yards of me, but, having previously determined to try the boarding system, I reserved my fire.

Although I had taken the field expressly to look for giraffes, and had put four of the Hottentots on horseback, all excepting Piet had as usual, slipped off unperceived in pursuit of a troop of koodoos (Strepsiceros Koodoo.) Our stealthy approach was soon opposed by an ill tempered rhinoceros, which with her ugly calf, stood directly in the path; and the twinkling of her bright little eyes, accompanied by the restless rolling of the body, giving earnest of her intention to charge, I directed Piet to salute her with a broadside, at the same moment putting spurs to my horse. At the report of the gun and the sudden clattering of hoof away bounded the giraffes in grotesque confusion, clearing the ground by a succession of frog-like hops, and soon leaving me far in the rear. Twice were their towering forms concealed from view by a park of trees, which we entered almost at the same instant; and twice, on emerging from the labyrinth, did I perceive them tilting over an eminence immeasurably in advance. A white turban, that I wore round my hunting-cap being dragged off by a projecting bough, was instantly charged by three rhinoceroses; and, looking over my shoulder, I could see them long afterwards, fagging themselves to overtake me. In the course of five minutes the fugitives arrived at a small river, the treacherous sands of which receiving their long legs, their flight was greatly retarded: and, after floundering to the opposite side and scrambling to the top of the bank, I perceived that their race was run. Patting the steaming neck of my good steed, I urged him again to his utmost, and instantly found myself by the side of the herd. The stately bull, being readily distinguishable from the rest by his dark chestnut robe and superior stature, I applied the muzzle of my rifle behind his dappled shoulder, with the right hand, and drew both triggers, but he still continued to shuffle along and being afraid of losing him, should I dismount among the extensive mimosa groves with which the landscape was now obscured, I sat in my saddle, loading and firing behind the elbow, and then placing myself across his path, until the tears trickling from his full brilliant eye, his lofty frame began to totter, and at the seventeenth discharge from the deadly grooved bore, bowing his graceful head from the skies his proud form was prostrate in the dust.

Never shall I forget the tingling excitement of that moment! Alone, in the wild wood, I hurried with bursting exultation, and unsaddling my steed, sank exhausted beside the noble prize I had won.

When I had leisurely contemplated the massive frame before me, seeming as though it had been cast in a mould of brass, and protected by a hide of an inch and a half in thickness, it was no longer matter of astonishment that a bullet, discharged from a distance of eighty yards, should have been attended with little effect upon such amazing strength. The extreme height from the crown of the elegantly moulded head to the hoof of this magnificent animal, was eighteen feet; the whole being equally divided into neck, body, and leg. Two hours were passed in completing a drawing: Piet still not making his appearance, I cut off the tail, which exceeded five feet in length, and was measurelessly the most estimable trophy I had gained: but proceeding to saddle my horse, which I had left quietly grazing by the side of a running brook, my chagrin may be conceived, when I discovered that he had taken advantage of my occupation to free himself from his halter and abscond. Being ten miles from the wagons, and in a perfectly strange country, I felt convinced that the only chance of recovering my pet was by following the trail, whilst doing which with so finite difficulty, the ground scarcely deigning to receive a foot-print, I had the satisfaction of meeting Piet Mohanycom, who had fortunately seen and recaptured the truant. Returning to the giraffe, we all feasted heartily upon the flesh which, although scented at this season, with the rank Mokaala blossoms, was far from despicable; and, after losing our way in consequence of the twin like resemblance of two scraped hills, we regained the wagons after sunset.

The spell was now broken, and the secret of camelopard hunting discovered. The next day Richardson and myself killed three; one a female, slipping upon muddy ground, and falling with great violence before she had been wounded, a shot in the head dispatching her as she lay. From this time we could reckon confidently upon two out of each troop that we were fortunate enough to find; always approaching as near as possible, in order to ensure a good start, galloping into the middle of them, boarding the largest, and riding with him until he fell. The rapidity with which these awkwardly formed animals can move is beyond all things surprising, our best horses being unable to close with them under two miles. Their gallop is a succession of jumping strides, the fore and hind leg on the same side moving together instead of diagonally, as in most other quadrupeds, the former being kept close together, and the latter so wide apart, that in riding by the animal's side, the hoofs may be seen striking on the outside of the horse, momentarily threatening to overthrow him. Its motion altogether reminded me rather of the pitching of a ship, or rolling of a rocking horse, than of anything living: and the remarkable gait is rendered still more automaton like by the switching at regular intervals, of the long black tail, which is invariably curled above the back, and by the corresponding action of the neck, swinging as it does like a pendulum, and literally imparting to the animal the appearance of a piece of machinery in motion. Naturally gentle, timid and peaceable, the unfortunate giraffe has no means of protecting itself but with its heels: but even when hemmed into a corner, it seldom resorted to this mode of defence. I have before noticed the courage evinced by our horses in pursuit of game. Even when brought into actual contact with these almost unearthly quadrupeds, they evinced no symptom of alarm, a circumstance which may possibly be traced to their meagre diet.