Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 March 1900 — THE GIRAFFE. [ARTICLE]

THE GIRAFFE.

Bu Bm Almost AnnihUatod ky ths ffflrth African Sattlsrs. The Boers are credited with being great hunters, and chief of them in his younger days was President Kruger, whose daring in attacking a lion single handed, with a hunting knife, as has many times been told. When the Boers migrated from Cape Colony to the Transvaal they were forced to clear the way by killing 6,000 lions, many of which were killed by Kruger. For years the South African Boers have been hunters, and their skill with the rifle is due to this daily practice in the fields and woods. But with them the killing of game has been either a matter of dollars and cents or self-protection. Their creditable work of freeing South Africa of the dreaded lions, whieh roamed in such numbers that life was rendered unsafe anywhere in the country, is offset by their ruthless destruction of the giraffe from Cape Colony to Botletli river. If they killed 6,000 lions in the Transvaal before existence was made safe, they may have killed 60,000 of the innocent, graceful giraffes. In the early days of South African history the giraffe was the most abundant game in the Transvaal, Matabeland and Orange Free State, but the creature has been killed off like our American buffalo, and the few remaining representatives of a noble race gradually driven north. For years past the giraffe has been a profitable quarry for the Boer hunters, and the animal was valued by them only because the hides were articles of commercial use. They were pot-hunted, shot down in droves and destroyed in the greatest number possible in every direction. The extinction of the animal in South Africa is now threatened, and its preservation by legislation comes when it is almost too late. Tn this respect, too, the brief history of the creature will resemble the story of our buffalo. A good giraffe skin is worth from $lO to S2O in South Africa to-day, and much more in Europe. On their hunting trips ten and 15 years ago it was a common matter for one hunger to kill 40 and 50 of these graceful animals in one day. The reason for this is that the giraffe is the most innocent of animals, and easily hunted. They are absolutely defenseless, and there is hardly a case on record where a wounded giraffe turned upon the hunter. It is true they have great powers of speed, and they can dodge rapidly from tree to tree in the woods, but they offer such a fair mark that these tactics hardly ever save them. Not until unusually frightened does the giraffe make its best speed, and then it is often too late, for the hunter is upon it. There is really no element of danger connected with this sport, and that makes it less exciting and attractive to a true sportsman. Under certain circumstances it is possible to be injured with the powerful legs of the giraffe, which are capable of kicking a blow that would kill a lion. The latter beast for this reason takes good care to attack the giraffe at unexpected moments. It takes a good horse to run down a giraffe, and if the least advantage is permitted the wild creature the race is lost. Its peculiar gait is very, ungraceful and deceptive, but it covers the ground with remarkable facility. In the open veldt the hunters always have the best of the race, but the giraffe when surprised makes instantly for the forest, where tough vines and intermingling branches make travel difficult for the hunter. The bushes and thorns tear and lacerate the skin of the horse, but the tough skin of the giraffe is barely scratched. The creature will tear a path through the toughest and thickest jungle, and never suffer in the least.

This skin qj hide of the animal is its chief article of value. No wonder that the bullets often fail to penetrate thia akin, for it is from three-quarters to an inch thick, and as tough as it is thick. Thia akin when cured and tanned makes excellent leather for certain purposes. The Boers make riding whips and sandals out of the. skins they do not send to Europe. The bones of the giraffe have also a commercial value. The leg bones are solid instead of hollow, and in Europe they are in great demand for manufacturing buttons and other bone articles. The tendons of the giraffe are ao strong that they will sustain an enormous dead weight, which gives to them pecuniary value. The extinction of the giraffe in South Africa is to be deplored, because the animal is peculiarly adapted to the wilderness of forest and veldt, where it feeds on the giraffe acacia that nature seems to have raised specially for it.—Scientific American. Be honest and let who will be rich. —Elliott’s Magazine.