An Irishwoman's Diary

The recent replacement of the stuffed giraffe in the Museum of Natural History brings to mind the true story of a celebrated giraffe that walked all the way to Paris from Marseille in the spring of l827.

A gift from Muhammad Ali, the Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt, to Charles X of France, the giraffe began her long journey to fame in central Africa, where she was captured as a two-month-old calf in the Ethiopian highlands. Her Arab captors would have known from experience that young giraffes had to be captured while still being nursed because, once weaned, they would cripple themselves fighting to escape or die of self-imposed starvation.

Packed on a camel to Sennar beside the butchered remains of her mother, she was shipped down the Blue Nile to be raised in Khartoum. From there she travelled 2,000 miles down the Nile to Cairo and Alexandria by felucca, like many a human slave of the time, before sailing across the Mediterranean to Marseilles. A hole had to be cut on the deck of the brigantine to accommodate her long neck.

Zarafa, as she was named, was to become the first giraffe seen in France and the darling of Paris. Her story is recounted in Zarafa by Michael Allin (Review, £6.99 in UK), a beguiling account of the giraffe's journey in which the author retraces her steps from Sennar to Paris, bringing vividly to life the historical background and the people involved in the undertaking.

Eminent scientist

The man who led the extraordinary odyssey to the French capital was one of the most eminent scientists of the day, Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, who had started the Paris zoo with animals saved from the royal menagerie at Versailles after the revolution.

Bernardino Drovetti, French consul-general in Egypt and a trafficker in exotic animals and antiquities, who had suggested the exotic gift in the first place, arranged for his Arab groom and Sudanese servant to assist in the journey.

The greatest care was taken of "the beautiful Egyptian", as she was known. The prefect of Marseilles had a vast shed built for her in the grounds of his mansion. She was trained to follow milk cows on gradually longer daily walks in the countryside, which eventually gave her charges confidence that she could attempt the 550-mile walk to Paris.

Meanwhile, everybody in Marseille wanted to see her. "The animal has a very gentle disposition and has never been seen to manifest the slightest anger or malice. . .She often licks the face, the hands and the clothes of the Arab who cares for her," wrote Saint-Hilaire. While the Europeans marvelled at the giraffe, the animal's Arab handlers were wide-eyed at the décolletage of the local women.

Mounted gendarmes

What a sight the procession must have made as it set out on May 20th, l827. The giraffe, wearing a specially made waxed taffeta raincoat, was guided on long leads held by three handlers, preceded by two cows and a Corsican mouflon (a type of sheep). Mounted gendarmes escorted the convoy to front and rear (the horses keeping a good distance) and Saint-Hilaire, who was to become known as "Comte de la Giraffe" followed with the food and other supplies.

Everywhere they went they were mobbed; people left their farms and their vineyards, their cottages and chateaux to gaze in amazement at this wondrous creature travelling at two miles an hour through the countryside.

In June the procession arrived in Lyon, where some 30,000 people, including a 113-year-old woman, turned out to get a glimpse of her. It took a further 21 days to arrive in Paris. Saint-Hilaire wrote that Zarafa had benefited from the journey, gaining weight and strength. "She is presently 12'2" tall, her ways \ become more trusting and her complacency with the play of the little mouflon which she has accepted on her back while resting testified that she is as debonaire as she is intelligent."

Having been received with delight by the king, Zerafa became the toast of Paris. An estimated 100,000 people - a third of the city's population - queued up to see her during July and August in the Jardin des Plantes. She became the subject of songs, music and poetry and an icon of fashion. Women wore their hair à la giraffe and men wore giraffe hats.

Soap, tableware, textiles, wallpaper and every kind of knick-knack was decorated with giraffe motifs. The daily grooming rituals of her handlers held a captivated public spellbound. Writers such as Balzac, Stendhal and Flaubert were enchanted and inspired.

Museum display

Zarafa lived on for another l8 years, the queen of the world's first zoo For thirteen years of her captivity she never saw another of her species; then another young female arrived in Paris to be her companion. She died on January 12th, l845, just after Saint-Hilaire; her stuffed carcass was displayed for decades in the foyer of the museum at the Jardin des Plantes.

But her final journey was still to come. As the museum grew, many animals were farmed out to provincial cities around France. Zarafa's home today is in the Natural History Museum in La Rochelle, on the west coast, where she reigns as "La Giraffe du Roi".