The Giraffe (_fig. 165._) is one of the tallest, most useful, most
beautiful, and harmless animals in nature. The enormous disproportion
of his legs, the fore ones being as long again as those behind, is a
great obstacle to the exercise of his powers. His motion is waddling,
slow, and stiff; he can neither fly from his enemies in a free state,
nor serve his master in a domestic one. The species is not very
numerous, and has always been confined to the desarts of Ethiopia,
and to some other provinces of Southern Africa and India. As these
countries were unknown to the Greeks, Aristotle makes no mention of
this animal. Pliny speaks of it, and Oppian describes it in a manner
that is far from equivocal. "The camelopardalis (says this author) has
some resemblance to the camel; it has a spotted skin like the panther,
and a neck as long as the camel; its head and ears are small, its feet
broad, and its legs long, but the last are very unequal, the fore
ones being much longer than those behind, which are so short, that
when the animal is standing it has somewhat the appearance of a dog
sitting upon his posteriors. There are two prominences upon the head
just between the ears, which resemble two small and straight horns. Its
mouth is like the stag's; its teeth small and white; its eyes full of
fire; its tail short, and furnished with black hairs at the end." By
adding to this description of Oppian those of Heliodorus and Strabo,
we shall have a sufficient idea of the camelopard. "The ambassadors
of Ethiopia (says Heliodorus) brought an animal about the size of a
camel, whose skin was speckled with beautiful and glossy spots, the
hinder parts were much lower than the anterior; the neck was slender,
although rising from a tolerably thick body; the head resembled that
of the camel, and in size was scarce double that of the ostrich; the
eyes appeared tinctured with different colours. The motion of this
animal was different from that of all other quadrupeds, who in walking
lift their legs diagonally, that is, the right leg before with the
left leg behind; but the camelopard goes naturally in an amble, with
its two right or its two left legs pacing together. It is a gentle
animal, and may be conducted any where with a small cord tied round
its head." "There is (says Strabo) a large animal in Ethiopia called
_camelopardalis_, although it bears 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 this animal are long, and nearly
resembling those of the fawn, or young stag. The posterior parts of
its body are much lower than the anterior; so that towards the rump it
is not higher than the ox, while its shoulders are higher than those
of the camel. From this disproportion it cannot run very swift. This
animal is gentle, does no injury, and feeds upon grass, leaves, and
vegetables." Among the moderns, the first good description we meet
with is that of Belon. "I saw (says he) an animal at the castle of
Cairo, which is commonly called _zurnapa_; the Latins anciently stiled
it _camelopardalis_, a name compounded of leopard and camel, for it
is sprinkled with spots like the first, and has a long neck like the
latter. It is a very beautiful animal, as gentle as a lamb, and more
sociable than any other wild beast. Its head is almost like that of the
stag, excepting its size; on it are two small horns, about half a foot
long, covered with hair; those of the male are longer than those of the
female. They both have ears as large as those of a cow, and the tongue
black, like that of the ox; it has no incisive teeth in the upper jaw;
its neck is long, straight, and slender; its horns round; its legs thin
and long, but so low behind that the animal appears to be sitting;
its feet are like those of the ox; its tail, which hangs down almost
to its hoof, is round, and the hair on it is three times as thick as
that of a horse; the colour of the hair on the body is white and red;
its manner of running is like the camel's; when it runs its two fore
feet go together; it lies on its belly, and has a callous substance on
the breast and joints like that animal. When it grazes it is obliged
to spread its fore legs very wide, and even then feeds with great
difficulty, therefore it rather chooses to feed on the leaves of trees
than to graze in the fields, especially as its neck is exceedingly
long, and can reach to a great height."
Gillius's description seems still better than that of Belon. "I have
seen (says Gillius, chap. ix.) three camelopards at Cairo; on their
heads are two horns six inches long, and in the middle of their
forehead a tubercle rises to about the height of two inches, which
appears like a third horn. This animal is sixteen feet high when he
holds up his head. Its neck alone is seven feet, and it is twenty-two
feet long from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail; its fore
and hind legs are nearly of an equal height; but the thighs before are
so long in comparison to those behind, that its back inclines like the
roof of an house. Its whole body is sprinkled with large yellow spots
which are nearly of a square form. Its feet are cloven like the ox;
its upper lip hangs over the under; its tail is slender, with hair on
it to the very point; it ruminates like the ox, and, like that animal,
feeds upon herbage; its mane extends from the top of the head to the
back. When it walks it seems as if its legs and flanks on both sides
were alternately lame; and when it grazes, or drinks, it is obliged to
spread its fore legs prodigiously wide."
Gesner affirms, upon the authority of Belon, that this animal sheds
its horns like the deer; but I must confess that I never could find
such a fact asserted in that author. He merely says, as above, that
the horns of the camelopard are covered with hair; and he only speaks
in one other place of that animal, namely, when treating of the axis,
where he says, "The camelopard has a white skin, with broad spots
sprinkled over it, which, though red, are not so deep as those of the
axis." This fact, which however I have not been able to meet with in
any part of Belon's work, would be of great importance to decide the
nature of the giraffe, for if it sheds its horns every year it belongs
to the stag kind; and, on the contrary, if its horns are permanent,
it must be considered as belonging to the ox or goat species; but,
without this precise knowledge, we cannot assert, as our nomenclators
have done, that the giraffe is of the stag genus; and we are not a
little surprised that Hasselquist, who has given a very long and
dry description of this animal, has been silent as to its nature.
After having methodically, that is to say, scholastically, heaped
together a hundred useless and trifling characters, he does not say
a single word on the substance of the horns, and leaves us ignorant
whether they are solid or hollow, or whether they fall off or not. I
refer to the description of Hasselquist, not for its utility, but for
its singularity, and to excite travellers to make use of their own
knowledge, and not to view objects through the spectacles of other men.
In the year 1764 a drawing and an account of the giraffe was sent to
the Academy of Sciences, by which we are informed that this animal is
not particular to Ethiopia, but is also found in the neighbourhood
of the Cape of Good Hope.[AH] The drawing was so badly executed that
no use can be made of it,[AI] but as the account contains a sort
of description we have given it a place. "In an excursion from the
Cape, made in 1762, we travelled about two hundred leagues up the
country, and met with the _camelopardalis_, a drawing of which we have
subjoined. Its body resembles that of an ox, and its head and neck
those of the horse. All we met with were of a white colour, sprinkled
with brown spots. They have two horns on the head, about a foot long,
and their feet are hoofed. We killed two of these animals, and sent
their skins to Europe, the several measurements of which were as
follows: the length of the head one foot eight inches; the height,
from the bottom 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
in height. The length from the withers to the reins is five feet
six inches, and from thence to the tail one foot six; the length,
therefore, of the whole body is seven feet, and the height, from the
hind feet to the reins, eight feet five inches. The great disproportion
in the height and length of this animal seems to prevent its being of
any service. It feeds on the leaves of trees, and when it wants to
drink, or take any thing off the ground, it is obliged to kneel with
its fore legs."
[AH] Vaillant also, in his travels into the interior parts of Africa,
asserts, that he met with giraffes in very great numbers.
[AI] This we have also obviated, our figure being from a drawing taken
by M. Vaillant from life.
In inspecting the accounts travellers have given of the giraffe, I
find they all agree that it can reach with its head to the height of
sixteen or seventeen feet when standing erect, and that the fore legs
are as high again as the hind ones, so that it seems as if it was
seated upon its crupper. They likewise agree that it cannot run very
swift, by reason of this disproportion; that it is very gentle, and
that by this quality, other habits, and even by the shape of the body,
it partakes more of the nature of the camel than of any other animal;
that it is among the number of ruminating animals, and, like them, is
deficient of the incisive teeth in its upper jaw. By the testimonies of
some travellers we also find that the giraffe is to be met with in the
southern parts of Africa, as well as in those of Asia.
It is very evident, from what we have mentioned, that the giraffe is
a peculiar species, and totally different from every other animal. If
we would refer it to any it should rather be to the camel than the
stag, or the ox. It is true the giraffe has two small horns, and the
camel none; but they resemble each other so much in other respects
that I am not surprised at some travellers having given it the name
of the _Indian camel_. Besides, we are ignorant of the substance of
the horns of the giraffe, and, consequently, we know not if in that
part he approaches nearer to the stag than to the ox; and, possibly,
they may be of a substance different from either; they may be composed
of united hairs like those of the rhinoceros, or of a substance and
texture peculiar to themselves. The reasons which have induced
nomenclators to rank the giraffe with the stag kind, seem to have
arisen from the pretended passage of Belon, quoted by Gesner, which
indeed would be decisive if it were true. They seem also to have
misunderstood what authors have said of the hair of those horns; they
have imagined that the writers have said the horns of the giraffe
were covered with hair, like the fresh-sprung horns of the stag, and
from thence concluded they were of the same nature; but, in fact, the
giraffe's horns are only surrounded with coarse hair, and not covered
with a down, or velvet, like those of the stag. This circumstance
tends to support the probability that the horns of the giraffe are
composed of united hair, like those of the rhinoceros, and their
bluntness at the extremities greatly favours this idea. If, again, we
consider that the elk, rein-deer, stag, roe-buck, &c. have their horns
always divided into branches or antlers, and that, on the contrary,
the horns of the giraffe are only simple, and consist of one stem, we
must be convinced that they are not of the same nature, unless analogy
be entirely violated. The tubercle is in the middle of the head,
which, according to travellers, seem to form a third horn, is another
strong circumstance in favour of this opinion. The two horns which
are not pointed, but blunt at the ends, are, perhaps, only tubercles
somewhat longer than the former. All travellers also uniformly inform
us that the female giraffes have horns like the males, but that they
are smaller. If this animal were really of the stag kind, analogy
would here also be violated, for of all animals of that genus there
is only the female rein-deer that has horns, the reason of which we
have before mentioned. On the other hand, as the giraffe cannot graze
but with great difficulty on account of the excessive height of its
fore legs; as it chiefly and almost solely feeds on the leaves and
buds of trees, it may be presumed, that the horns, which are the most
apparent superfluity of the organic particles derived from the food,
would be analogous to the nature of the food, as well as the horns of
the stag. Time will confirm the propriety of one or other of these
conjectures. One word more in Hasselquist's description would have
fixed these doubts, and clearly determined the genus of this animal.
But scholars, who have only the gamut of their master in their heads,
or rather in their pockets, cannot avoid making blunders and essential
omissions, because they entirely renounce investigation, which should
guide every observer of Nature, and view her productions through the
false medium of arbitrary method, which only serves to hinder them
from reflecting on the objects they meet with, and to calculate the
description of them on a bad and erroneous model. As, in reality, all
objects differ materially from each other, so they ought all to be
treated differently; one single striking character happily discovered,
is sometimes decisive, and often conveys more knowledge of a subject
than a thousand trifling indexes. Whenever they are numerous they
consequently become equivocal and common, and then they are at least
superfluous, if not prejudicial, to the real knowledge of Nature, who
sports with the forms we prescribe, soars above all method, and can
only be perceived by the penetrating eye of Genius.