THE EXTINCT QUAGGA 253 



In two instances, and apparently in two only, so far 

 as the larger animals are concerned, they did, however, 

 adopt this practice. The first instance is that of the 

 large and handsome spiral-horned antelope now univer- 

 sally known as kudu, a name which is certainly not Dutch, 

 and is believed by Sir Harry Johnston to be of Hottentot 

 origin, since it is unknown to the Kaffirs or other tribes 

 who speak dialects of the Bantu language. The second 

 case is that of the animal forming the subject of this 

 article, which is now universally known as quagga, from a 

 corruption of its Hottentot name quacha, pronounced by 

 the natives as " quaha." Even in this instance, however, 

 the Boers appear at first to have displayed considerable 

 reluctance to adopt the native name, for they originally 

 called the animal wilde esel (wild ass) in the same way 

 as they christened its cousin, Burchell's zebra, wilde 

 paard, or wild horse. Eventually, however, better counsels 

 prevailed, and Equus quagga became known to the Cape 

 Dutch by the aforesaid native name, while the wilde paard 

 (whose early title still survives in Paardeberg) was 

 renamed bonte quacha, or striped quagga. When, how- 

 ever, the true quagga became very rare and eventually 

 exterminated, the prefix bonte was dropped from the Dutch 

 designation of Burchell's zebra, which was henceforth 

 known throughout South Africa as the quacha, or quagga 

 pure and simple. Hence much confusion, and possibly 

 also a factor in the extermination of the species to which 

 that title of right belonged. For as the name in question 

 continued to be in common use in South Africa at the 

 time the true quagga was on the point of extermination, 

 it is quite probable that this may have been the reason 

 why the attention of naturalists in Europe was not drawn 

 to its impending fate while there was yet time. 



