THE CAMELOPARD, OR GIRAFFA.

HERE Nature seems to have forgotten her general rules of symmetry, in giving to this extraordinary quadruped a small head with a large body, and fore legs much longer than the hinder ones, without letting us into the secret of her reasons for composing such a shape. This curious animal is found in the remotest part of Africa. His head, which resembles that of a horse, is armed with two small horns, blunt, and of an iron colour; the hair is whitish, mixed with tawny, and sprinkled with numerous rusty spots. He feeds on vegetables and branches of trees; and, in order to reach the ground, he is obliged to spread his fore feet very wide. His timidity is equal to his strength, and an animal, that might fight a bull, may be led by a child with a small line or cord about his neck. It is

said that the flesh of this animal is a pleasing and wholesome food.

A present of one of these rare animals, to the King of England, has lately arrived from the Pasha of Egypt. It differs in many respects from the Camelopards described by Vaillant. This specimen has two short protuberances or tufts between the ears, which are covered with rather long hair, falling over on the top, towards the back of the neck, not terminating in nobs as hitherto described. Neither does this Giraffa display any rise on its back, over its shoulders, nor along the whole line of the vertebra, as is seen in those previously delineated. It assumes almost a straight line, with a slight appearance of curve. Its height is between ten and eleven feet, measured from the fore hoofs to the tip of the ears. The general tone of colour is a light fawn, the spots being a few shades deeper. As the animal is, however, only two years old, it is expected that these spots will become darker as he increases in age. The eyes are large, dark, and expressive: they, as well as the ears, move quickly. He is timid, and readily alarmed with any noise; but when his keepers are present, he displays much more confidence. He does not at present possess much strength; the joints of the fore legs are very large, similar to those of a young calf, and he moves with an unsteady step. His legs, when viewed in front, are not perpendicular, but diverge from the body, and spread out, as if intended by nature to poise and support his immense height, when standing. That which shows that the Giraffa was intended to browse on the high branches of trees, is the difficulty which it manifests whenever it is obliged to take any thing from the ground. It puts out first one foot, then the other; repeats the same process several times; and it is only after these reiterated experiments that it at length bends its neck, and applies its lips and tongue to the

object in question. It willingly accepts fruit and branches of the acacia when offered to it. It seizes the foliage in a very singular manner, thrusting forth, for the purpose, a long, reddish, and very narrow tongue, which it rolls round whatever it would secure.

In silent horror, o'er the boundless waste,
The driver Hassan with his Camels pass'd:
One cruise of water on his back he bore,
And his light scrip contain'd a scanty store:
A fan of painted feathers in his hand,
To guard his shaded face from scorching sand;
The sultry sun had gain'd the middle sky,
And not a tree, and not a herb, was nigh:
The beasts, with pain, their dusty way pursue,
Shrill roar'd the winds, and dreary was the view!

COLLINS.

THE Camel is a native of Asia, and is generally of a brown or ash colour. His height is about six feet. He is one of the most useful quadrupeds in oriental countries; his docility and strength, his sobriety and swiftness, on the sands of Arabia, make him a most valuable acquisition to the inhabitants of those desert places. The principal characteristics of the Camel are these:

He carries two large and hard bunches on his back; is destitute of horns; has six cutting teeth in the lower jaw, and none in the upper; the upper lip divided like those of the hare; and the hoofs small and undeciduous. But the peculiar and distinguishing characteristic of the Camel is, its faculty of abstaining from water for a greater length of time than any other animal; for which nature has made a wonderful provision, in giving it, besides the four stomachs which it has in common with all ruminating animals, a fifth bag, serving as a reservoir for water, where it remains without corrupting or mixing with the other aliments. By this singular structure it can take a prodigious quantity of water at one draught, and is enabled to pass as much as fifteen days without drinking again. A large Camel is capable of carrying a thousand, and sometimes twelve hundred weight. This animal, like the elephant, is tame, tractable, and strong: like the horse, he gives security to his rider; and, like the cow, he furnishes his owner with meat for his table, and milk for his drink. The flesh of the young Camel is esteemed a delicacy, and the milk of the females, diluted with water, is the common drink of the Arabians. Their hair or fleece, which falls off entirely in the spring, is superior to that of any other domestic animal, and is made into very fine stuffs, for clothes, coverings, tents, and other furniture. The female goes one year with young, and produces but one at a time. The Camel kneels to receive his burden, and it is said that he refuses to rise, if his master impose upon him a weight above his strength. Long inured to slavery, the result of domesticity, he wears on his knees the stigma of servitude, and sleeps promiscuously with the Arab, his wife and children, under the tent, in the parched and extensive sands of the Levant.

AN animal of the Camel kind, of less stature, but much swifter, having but one hard bunch on his back; is domesticated throughout Africa, as well as Asia. He is covered with soft, short hair, except on the head, throat, and top of the neck, where it is longer. His upper lip is divided like that of the camel, and his feet are terminated by two sharp claws. The Camel and Dromedary produce with each other, and the race resulting from their union is reckoned the most valuable, adding the swiftness of the one to the greater strength of the other. It is said that this kind can travel one hundred miles a day, and carry fifteen hundred weight. Attempts have been made to introduce the Camel and Dromedary into our West India Islands, but they have not succeeded. The Dromedary is usually called the Arabian, or single-hunched Camel.