THE ZEBRA. 



455 



tal, while those of the body are vertical. The abdomen and inner por- 

 tions of the thighs are cream-white, and the end of the tail is nearly 

 black. These stripes are, however, in the male, rather brown and yel- 

 low. The skin of the neck is developed into a kind of dewlap, and 

 the tail is sparingly covered with coarse black hair. By the Cape 

 colonists it is called "Wilde Paard," or Wild Horse. It is, however, 

 less like the horse than the Dziggetai or Kulan, described in our 

 previous chapter. It resembles the Dziggetai much more than the 

 Dauw, as it is always found in hilly districts, and inhabits the high 

 craggy mountains in preference to the plains. It is timid, and flies at 

 the sight of any strange object, and in captivity is described as fierce, 

 obstinate, and nearly untamable. A young female, however, that was 

 caught young and sent to the Jardin des Plantes of Paris, was so tract- 

 able that it allowed itself to be approached and led almost as readily as 

 a horse. Mr. Rarey, the American horse-tamer, had, he confesses, more 

 difficulty in taming a zebra than any horse which he had seen, but he 

 succeeded at last in subduing it. 



The three species just described possess an equal degree of intel- 

 ligence, and equal acuteness of sense. A certain wildness, cunning, and 

 courage is common to them aU, and all have an infinite love of liberty. 

 They defend themselves bravely against all beasts of prey ; the hyaenas 

 leave them at peace; the lion alone, perhaps, can conquer one of the 

 tiger-horses ; the leopard attacks only the weak ones, the adults being 

 able to i"epel him. As usual, the worst enemy of these harmless crea- 

 tures is man. The difficulty of the chase and the beautiful skin of the 

 animal attract the European sportsman ; the Cape colonists are passion- 

 ately devoted to it, and the Abyssinians seem also to hunt any zebras 

 that come in their way. Europeans shoot the tiger-horses, the natives 

 spear them, but very commonly the pretty brutes are taken in jntfalls 

 and then slain, for the dead animal alone is of any use to the natives, who 

 regard its flesh as a dainty. The Boers of the Cape never touch it, but 

 leave the animal to be eaten by their Hottentot servants. When 

 wounded, the Zebra gives a kind of groan which Andersson compares to 

 the gasps of a drowning man. 



In striking contrast to the ass, the tiger-horses are very silent. The 

 Zebra's voice is rarely heard, and its subdued neighings have a mel- 

 ancholy sound. The Ouagga, according to Cuvier, repeats about 

 twenty times the syllables Oa, oa, or Qua, qua, from which the Hottentot 



