equently exposed to great hardships and
privations; but he was eventually rewarded by obtaining three giraffes,
all smaller than the first. A great trial awaited them, as they had to
proceed by water the whole distance from Wadi Halfa to Cairo, and thence
to Alexandria and Malta, besides the voyage to England. They suffered
considerably at sea during a passage of twenty-four days in very
tempestuous weather, and on reaching Malta in November, were detained in
quarantine twenty-five days more; but despite of all these difficulties,
they reached England in safety, and on the 25th of May were conducted to
the Gardens. At daybreak, the keepers and several gentlemen of
scientific distinction arrived at the Brunswick Wharf, and the animals
were handed over to them. The distance to the Gardens was not less than
six miles, and some curiosity, not unmingled with anxiety, was felt as
to how this would be accomplished. Each giraffe was led between two
keepers, by means of long reins attached to the head; the animals walked
along at a rapid pace, generally in advance of their conductors, but
were perfectly tractable. It being so early in the morning, few persons
were about, but the astonishment of those who did behold the
unlooked-for procession, was ludicrous in the extreme. As the giraffes
stalked by, followed by M. Thibaut and others, in Eastern costume, the
worthy policemen and early coffee-sellers stared with amazement, and a
few revelers, whose reeling steps proclaimed their dissipation,
evidently doubted whether the strange figures they beheld were real
flesh and bone, or fictions conjured up by their potations; their gaze
of stupid wonder indicating that of the two they inclined to the latter
opinion. When the giraffes entered the park, and first caught sight of
the green trees, they became excited, and hauled upon the reins, waving
the head and neck from side to side, with an occasional caracole and
kick out of the hind legs, but M. Thibaut contrived to coax them along
with pieces of sugar, of which they were very fond, and he had the
satisfaction of depositing his valuable charges, without accident or
misadventure, in the sanded paddock prepared for their reception.

The sum agreed on with M. Thibaut was L250 for the first giraffe he
obtained, L200 for the second, L150 for the third, and L100 for the
fourth, in all L700; but the actual cost to the society amounted to no
less than L2386. _3s. 1d._, in consequence of the hea