Mr. E. Blyth on the different Animals known as Wild Asses. 237 



line, on one side only of the animal, where the cross occurs in 

 some individuals. In another Ghor-khur, which I saw in the 

 Surrey Zoological Gardens, there was an incipient cross-stripe 

 about an inch long, on one side, and still less (the merest indi- 

 cation of it) on the other side. In the individual which Jacque- 

 mont saw in Barrackpore Park, he remarks that there was H une 

 ligne noire transversale sur les epaules." Whether this cross- 

 stripe is ever seen in the Hemippus remains to be ascertained. 



Sir R. Kerr Porter describes a " wild Ass n without even the 

 dorsal stripe; and as he completed his sketch of it from a 

 second individual which he killed, our incredulity should there- 

 fore abate somewhat, even though his account remains uncor- 

 roborated to this day. All other observers seem to agree in 

 describing the Persian wild Ass to have the usual longitudinal 

 dorsal streak. Thus in Morier's ' Second Journey through 

 Persia 9 (ii. p. 201) we read, "The wild Ass is of a light mouse- 

 colour, with a dark streak over its shoulder and down its back," 

 which may imply that a cross- stripe was also observed. Porter, 

 however, states, " The mane was short and black, as was also a 

 tuft which terminated his tail; no line whatever ran along his 

 back, or crossed his shoulders, as are seen in the tame species." 

 Such an animal does not appear to have been met with by any 

 other person ! Prof. St.-Hilaire suspects that it will yet prove to 

 be a distinct species. As an example of the vague misuse of 

 names in which many authors indulge, it may here be remarked 

 that in Kinneir's 'Geographical Memoir of the Persian Empire* 

 (p. 42) these animals are actually styled " Zebras or wild 

 Asses I" 



The voice of Major Tytler's Ghor-khurs is a loud, shrieking 

 bray. It is decidedly different from that of an animal which I 

 heard in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, which also was 

 a distinct bray, but much less harsh and discordant than that of 

 a donkey. This animal was probably a Hemippus-, and Prof. 

 Is. St.-Hilaire remarks that the voice of the Hemippus is notably 

 different from that of the " Hemione," meaning the Ghor-khur. 

 Also that "le braire de nos Hemiones indiens, si Pon veut se 

 servir pour eux de ce mot, differe considerablement du braire de 

 PAne, soit domestique, soit sauvage*." When and where the 

 distinguished Professor heard the bray of the wild Ass does not 

 appear on the record ; but the probability is that it differs little, 

 if at all, from that of the domestic animal. 



The Kyang, according to Major A. Cunningham, "neighs 

 like a horse ; }> and I suspect that it was upon his authority that 

 Dr. Walker asserted the same, and that he had never heard the 



* Comptes Rendus, December 31, 1855, p. 1224. 



