Palliser in the following passage:-"We were now about one hundred and fifty yards from the nearest of the band. I chose a fine old Stag, while Boucharville, with an eye to superior meat, singled out a Doe. We drew up our rifles slowly, and both shots went off together. The smoke hung heavily for a second or two; when it cleared away, we espied one of the Wapiti lying down: the next instant down rolled the Stag also. We agreed to advance at the same moment, lest one or other of the animals should be able to get up and escape. On coming near my Stag, he struggled to rise, but unable to regain his feet, rolled back again. I looked towards the other, when what was my surprise at witnessing a regular combat between Boucharville and his wounded Elk, now trans

*

formed into a very formidable antagonist! Springing on her haunches, she was striking furiously at him with her fore-feet; one hoof missed him, but the other fell on his rifle, which he held up for his protection, and smashing both his ramrod and his loading stick, beat him down on his knees. Rising a second time, she was about to repeat the attack, when my ball caught her in the side of the head, behind the eye, and with a splendid bound she fell lifeless on the broad of her back. I had made a quick and necessarily a rather dangerous shot; but I was in luck that day. Ah!' exclaimed Boucharville, as he half rose from the ground, but looking at

THE WAPITI.

nothing till he had satisfied himself that his rifle was uninjured, 'Mais. qui l'aurait cru? Ma foi!' continued he, 'j'ai bien échappé; une biche à une côté et une balle à l'autre !'"

The Long-tailed Deer is larger than the Red Deer of Europe, darker in color, on the upper part, white underneath and with a tail eighteen inches long and black on the upper part, with broad white margins, erect when the animal runs, The horns are short and flattened, but not palmated. This species is sometimes called the Black-tailed Deer, it is found in Kansas, Nebraska, and the neighboring regions.

OF THE GIRAFFE TRIBE.

IN the lower jaw of the Giraffes there are eight broad and thin front teeth, the outermost of which on each side, are each deeply divided into two lobes.

In the present tribe, of which only a single species has hitherto been discovered, the horns are simple, covered with skin, blunt at the ends, and each terminated by a tuft of black hair.

This animal, although nearly allied both to the Deer and Antelope tribes, is so remarkable in its structure, as, in an artificial system at least, to require a distinct classification.

THE GIRAFFE.

The head of the Giraffe bears a considerable resemblance to that of the horse, but is furnished with erect horns, about six inches long, and covered with a hairy skin: these are blunt, as though cut off at the ends, and each tufted with a brush of coarse black hairs. The

neck is very long, thin, and erect, and has on the ridge a short, erect mane, which extends along the back, nearly to the origin of the tail.

THE GIRAFFE.

The shoulders are very deep, which has given rise to a vulgar error that the fore-legs are longer than the hind

This extremely singular quadruped is found only in the interior recesses of the forests, or upon the wildest plains, of Africa; whence it is never taken alive, except when young, and where it is seldom ever seen by European travellers.

When they stand with their head and neck perfectly erect, many of these animals measure sixteen or eighteen feet in height. In their native wilds this singular form gives them, at a distance, the appearance of decayed trees; and the deception is not a little aided by their color, reddish white, marked with numerous large rusty spots.

They are of a mild and timid disposition. When pursued, they trot so fast that even a good horse is scarcely able to keep pace with them, and they continue their course for a long time without requiring rest. When they leap, they lift first their fore-legs, and then the hinder ones, in the manner of a horse whose fore-legs are tied together. Their general position, except when grazing, is with the head and neck erect. They feed principally on the leaves of trees, and particularly on those of a peculiar species of mimosa, that is common in the country where they are found, and to which the extreme length of their legs and neck admirably adapts them. When they feed from the ground, they are under the necessity of dividing their fore-legs to a considerable distance. In preparing to lie down, they kneel like the Camel.

It has generally been supposed that the Giraffe possessed neither the power nor the strength to defend itself against the attacks of other animals: this, however, seems to be unfounded; for M. le Vaillant has asserted, that "by its kicks it frequently wearies, discourages, and distances even the Lion." The utility of the horns of the Giraffe appears to be hitherto unknown: this writer says, that they are not used as weapons of defence.

From divers accounts that have been left to us, this animal seems to have been known to the ancients. Heliodorus, the Greek bishop of Sicca, mentions it particularly in his time, and his description seems more original and authentic than those of most of the old writers.

"The ambassadors from the Axiomita (he says) brought presents

to Hydaspes, and, among other things, there was an animal of a strange and wonderful species, about the size of a Camel, which had its skin marked with florid spots. The hinder parts, from the loins, were low, like those of a Lion; but the shoulders, fore-feet, and breast, were elevated above proportion to the other parts. The neck was small, and lengthened out from its large body like that of a Swan. The head, in form, resembled a Camel, but was, in size, about twice that of the Lybian Ostrich, and it rolled the eyes, which had a film over them, very frightfully. It differed in its gait from every other land or water-animal, and waddled in a remarkable manner. Each leg did not move alternately; but those on the right side moved together, independently of the other, and those of the left in the same manner, so that each side was alternately elevated. This animal was so tractable as to be led by a small string fastened to its head, and the keeper could con duct it wherever he pleased, as if with the strongest chain. When the animal appeared, it struck the whole multitude with terror; and it took its name from the principal parts of its body, being called by the people, extempore, Camelopardalis."

A Giraffe appears to have been brought to Cairo in the year 1507, for Baumgarten says,

that "on the 26th of October, in that year, on looking out at a window he saw the Ziraphus, the tallest creature that he ever beheld. Its skin was all over white and brown, and its neck was almost two fathoms long. Its head was a cubit long, and its eyes looked brisk and lively; its breast was upright, and its back low; it

would eat bread or fruits, or any thing else they reached to it."

In the year 1769, the Dutch governor of the Cape of Good Hope sent out some parties of men on inland discoveries. One of these parties, after having crossed many mountains and plains, found two Giraffes, an old and a young-one. They seized the latter, and were desirous of conveying it alive to Cape Town, but it died before their arrival. They, however, skinned it, and the skin was afterwards sent to Europe, and lodged in the Cabinet of Natural History at Leyden.

The flesh of the young Giraffe is said to be good eating. The Hottentots hunt the animal principally on account of its marrow, which, as a delicacy, they set a high value upon.

The appearance of this animal in its native haunts is very magnificent. Mr. Cumming says, "These gigantic and exquisitely beautifui animals, which are admirably formed by nature to adorn the forests