( 589 ) 



Turkestan phase of the chigetai, it should occur in the mrth-eistern range of the 

 present form ; bnt the undermentioned specimen from Meshed does not differ in 

 stature, and but little in colour, from the typical form of the race. On the other 

 hand, a Baluchi shnll referred to below indicates a larger animal. 



Height at shoulder (as given by Blanford from a wild specimen) 3 ft. ID in. 

 Profile of face straight. General colour of upper-parts sandy in summer, with the 

 light band on each side of the dorsal stripe narrow, ill-defined, and whity-brown in 

 colour ; and the white on the rump not pure. The coloration — presumably in the 

 summer coat — is described by Dr. Matschie as follows : Upper-parts bright sandy ; 

 throat, nnder-parts, etc., white, the white extending to the flanks ; the broad dark 

 dorsal stripe bordered with white posteriorly, and stopping short of the tail-tufc. 



It will be noticed that in this description the light areas are said to be " white," 

 whereas in the specimens mentioned below they are whity-brown. In the absence 

 of a figure of Dr. Matschie's specimen, I have not, however, regarded this as a racial 

 distinction, esi)ecially as he alludes to the light areas in the Syrian and Persian 

 races as " silvery white." 



The pair of wild asses figured by Gray in plate liii. of Gleaiiinqs from the 

 Knowslei/ Menagerie under the name of E. hemioims (the skin and sknll of one 

 of which are in the British Museum [Nos. 4(). 1. 10. 3. and 5]), and said to be from 

 Kntch, agree fairly well with this description, being fawn in colour, with the light 

 areas not pure white and much less than the fawn. They are evidently represented 

 in the summer coat. These animals are, however, said to have been grey in winter ; 

 and this is confirmed by the one in the British Museum, which is in the winter dress 

 and distinctly grey. The whitish on the hind-quarters appears to have extended 

 well on to the buttocks. 



A male wild ass purchased in the spring of l'.M)4 by the Zoological Society 

 of London from Professor J. G. Ewart (by whom, as a " kiang," it had been 

 employed in mule-breeding) seems to belong to this race. This animal (Plate XVII.) 

 was bought by Lord Arthur Cecil some years previously in India from a Baluchi 

 horse-dealer, by whom it was stated to have been captured as a foal in the desert 

 near Meshed, on the northern border of South-Eastern Persia, by shooting its dam 

 while drinking at a pool. 



So far as I can see, this animal presents all the distinctive features of the 

 present race ; and if this identification be correct, and the locality rightly given, the 

 range of the latter will inclnde that portion of Persia lying on the north-eastern 

 border of the great salt desert of Khorasan. This desert thus seems to form the 

 limits between the ranges of the ghor-khar and the onager. 



A photograph of this ghor-khar is reproduced on p. 462 of the Proceedimjs 

 of the Royal Society of Edinburgh to illustrate a paper by Professor Ewart, who 

 alludes to it in the text as a kiang. 



I greatly doubt whether the Equus hamwr of Hamilton-Smith, said to be the 

 wild ass of the province of Ears, in Southern Persia, is a distinct form. It is 

 reported to be reddish fown-colour, without any dorsal stripe. Certainly such an 

 animal is unknown to modern naturalists, save by report. 



The skull of the Knowsley Menagerie wild ass mentioned above (British 

 Museum, No. 46. I. 10. .5) has the same general contour as that of the female 

 Syrian specimen referred to later on, the profile being sinuous, markedly convex 

 iu the upper part of the face, and then becoming very convex in the nasals, which 

 are very short, and recall those of a rhinoceros. The basal length is 15 inches. 



