The Arabs, too, hunt the giraffe. They are very fond of its flesh, and out of its skin they make leather shields. Its sinews and tendons they make into thread and strings.
The giraffe, as we see it in the menageries, has probably been kept in captivity from babyhood. It is very seldom that a full-grown specimen is caught. When a baby giraffe is captured it soon becomes tamed, provided it can be made to eat. Often, however, it will refuse all food, and will pine for its mother, like any other baby. It soon dies then for lack of nourishment.
In the menageries the keepers feed the giraffe upon grain, Indian corn, carrots, and hay.
The buffalo is probably the fiercest and the most powerful of all the cud-chewing animals. The Cape buffalo is regarded by naturalists as quite a distinct species from other buffaloes. It is about eight feet long from the base of the horns to the tail, and stands five and one-half feet high. It is considered much more formidable than any other animal of South Africa. This species does not seem to have ever been domesticated, although there is good reason to believe that it could be.
Its horns are very large and spread out almost horizontally over the top of the head. They then bend downward and at the ends take an upward turn. Like the common buffalo, the animal carries its muzzle in a projecting position, with its horns reclining on its shoulders. As it grows older, the narrow space between the horns at the base becomes filled with solid bone as hard as iron. It is thus able to defend itself against any enemy, whether man or beast.
The buffalo is almost always a match for a lion or a leopard. A herd of buffaloes will become as much excited at the sight of a lion as oxen would over a strange dog. If the lion does not succeed in escaping, the herd will kill him by tossing him from one to another on their horns and trampling him under foot.
On no account will a hunter provoke an encounter with a buffalo, unless the chances are greatly in his own favor, and unless he has every facility for escape. Its great size and strength render it a formidable foe. It is still found in large herds in the interior of South Africa. In Cape Colony, however, though once very common, it is now seldom seen.
The hide of the buffalo is so tough and thick that the Kaffirs make their shields of it. These shields are impenetrable even to musket shot. Huntsmen in shooting at buffaloes use bullets mixed with tin; yet these often become flattened when they strike the tough, resisting hide of the animal.
Its coat is of very scant, irregular hair, somewhat bristly in appearance, and often so thin that the smooth brown skin shines through when the sunlight falls upon it. The smooth, oily polish of the skin is no addition to the appearance of the animal. In fact, it is rather an unpleasant feature of it.
The buffalo is well adapted for marshy districts. It will frequently immerse itself in muddy waters, till only its head can be seen. Here it will stand for hours, protecting its body from insects by a coating of mud. Its food consists of coarse, rank herbage common to the marshes. For this food it seems to have a preference.