The true story of a giraffe's journey from the plains of Africa to the heart of post-Napoleonic France.
She was an intriguing royal gift and one that certainly caused a stir among the people of nineteenth-century France. On Tuesday, 31 October 1826, a young Masai giraffe called Zarafa landed incognito outside the bustling port of Marseilles.
Zarafa was the first living giraffe Europe had seen in almost 350 years and the first of her kind ever to arrive in France. She was a politically motivated tribute to Charles X from Muhammad Ali, the Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt, who hoped to forestall European intervention in his war against the Greeks. The gentle animal, however, soon became an adored celebrity in her own right and the embodiment of an era in French history rich in new scientific and cultural ideas.
Captured and tamed in the Ethiopian highlands, Zarafa travelled 3,500 miles down the Nile and across the Mediterranean. After wintering in Marseilles, she was carefully and lovingly walked the 550 miles to Paris by one of the premier savants of the time. Along the way, through villages and vineyards and from cottages and chateaux, the entire population was captivated by the "beautiful African".
Michael Allin's book is not only the enchanting story of the giraffe's epic journey. It is also a tale imbued with history. Linking primitive Africa with post-Napoleonic France, Zarafa was a symbol of an age fascinated by progress and the unfamiliar, an amazing creature that captured the hearts and imagination of men and women throughout Europe.
