The Giraffe,
Although From Sixteen To Twenty Feet In Height, Is Perfectly
Defenceless, And Can Only Trust To The Swiftness Of Its Pace And The
Extraordinary Power Of Vision, For Its Means Of Protection.
The eye of
this animal is the most beautiful exaggeration of that of the gazelle,
while the color of the reddish-orange hide, mottled with darker spots,
changes the tints of the skin with the differing rays of light,
according to the muscular movement of the body.
No one who has merely
seen the giraffe in a cold climate can form the least idea of its beauty
in its native land.
Life at Sofi was becoming sadly monotonous, and I determined to move my
party across the river to camp on the uninhabited side. The rains had
almost ceased, so we should be able to live in a tent by night, and to
form a shady nook beneath some mimosas by day. On the 15th of September
the entire male population of Sofi turned out to assist us across the
river. I had arranged a raft by attaching eight inflated skins to the
bedstead, upon which I lashed our large circular sponging bath. Four
hippopotami hunters were harnessed as tug steamers. By evening all our
party, with the baggage, had effected the crossing without accident - all
but Achmet, Mahomet's mother's brother's cousin's sister's mother's son,
who took advantage of his near relative, when the latter was in the
middle of the stream, and ran off with most of his personal effects.
The life at our new camp was charmingly independent. We were upon
Abyssinian territory, but as the country was uninhabited we considered
it as our own. Our camp was near the mouth of a small stream, the Till,
tributary to the Atbara, which afforded some excellent sport in fishing.
Choosing one day a fish of about half a pound for bait, I dropped this
in the river about twenty yards beyond the mouth of the Till, and
allowed it to swim naturally down the stream so as to pass across the
Till junction, and descend the deep channel between the rocks. For about
ten minutes I had no run. I had twice tried the same water without
success; nothing would admire my charming bait; when, just as it had
reached the favorite turning-point at the extremity of a rock, away
dashed the line, with the tremendous rush that follows the attack of a
heavy fish. Trusting to the soundness of my tackle, I struck hard and
fixed my new acquaintance thoroughly, but off he dashed down the stream
for about fifty yards at one rush, making for a narrow channel between
two rocks, through which the stream ran like a mill-race. Should he pass
this channel, I knew he would cut the line across the rock; therefore,
giving him the butt, I held him by main force, and by the great swirl in
the water I saw that I was bringing him to the surface; but just as I
expected to see him, my float having already appeared, away he darted in
another direction, taking sixty or seventy yards of line without a
check. I at once observed that he must pass a shallow sandbank favorable
for landing a heavy fish; I therefore checked him as he reached this
spot, and I followed him down the bank, reeling up line as I ran
parallel with his course. Now came the tug of war! I knew my hooks were
good and the line sound, therefore I was determined not to let him
escape beyond the favorable ground; and I put upon him a strain that,
after much struggling, brought to the surface a great shovel-head,
followed by a pair of broad silvery sides, as I led him gradually into
shallow water. Bacheet now cleverly secured him by the gills, and
dragged him in triumph to the shore. This was a splendid bayard, of at
least forty pounds' weight.
I laid my prize upon some green reeds, and covered it carefully with the
same cool material. I then replaced my bait by a lively fish, and once
more tried the river. In a very short time I had another run, and landed
a small fish of about nine pounds, of the same species. Not wishing to
catch fish of that size, I put on a large bait, and threw it about forty
yards into the river, well up the stream, and allowed the float to sweep
the water in a half circle, thus taking the chance of different
distances from the shore. For about half an hour nothing moved. I was
just preparing to alter my position, when out rushed my line, and,
striking hard, I believed I fixed the old gentleman himself, for I had
no control over him whatever. Holding him was out of the question; the
line flew through my hands, cutting them till the blood flowed, and I
was obliged to let the fish take his own way. This he did for about
eighty yards, when he suddenly stopped. This unexpected halt was a great
calamity, for the reel overran itself, having no checkwheel, and the
slack bends of the line caught the handle just as he again rushed
forward, and with a jerk that nearly pulled the rod from my hands he was
gone! I found one of my large hooks broken short off. The fish was a
monster!
After this bad luck I had no run until the evening, when, putting on a
large bait, and fishing at the tail of a rock between the stream and
still water, I once more had a fine rush, and hooked a big one. There
were no rocks down stream, all was fair play and clear water, and away
he went at racing pace straight for the middle of the river. To check
the pace I grasped the line with the stuff of my loose trousers, and
pressed it between my fingers so as to act as a brake and compel him to
labor for every yard; but he pulled like a horse, and nearly cut through
the thick cotton cloth, making straight running for at least a hundred
yards without a halt.
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