662 



ASSES, ZEBRAS AND EQUINE HYBRIDS. 



" fly " infected districts. With respect to this subject, 

 Mr. Selous writes to me that : " although Burchell's zebra, 

 born and brought up in the ' fly ' country, does not suffer 

 from its bite, it is my opinion that if a young one was 

 caught and brought up in a locahty where there was no 

 ' fly ' and was then taken into a ' fly ' infested district, 

 it would die. This, however, is only my opinion." As 

 the Burchell zebra is comparatively easy to break in, and 



Photo hy'\ 



Fig. 623. — Chapman's zebra. 



[The Duchess of Bedford. 



as it will breed in confinement, there is but little doubt 

 that it will in time become domesticated. If, as is quite 

 possible, it possesses little or no tendency to contract 

 " horse sickness," it will prove a valuable means of convey- 

 ance in South Africa. During one of my horse-breaking 

 performances in 1892, at Pretoria, the capital of the Trans- 

 vaal, I made a young Burchell zebra, after about an hour's 

 handling, quiet to carry a rider. In doing this, I did not 

 throw the animal down, nor did I resort to any of the 



