178 NATURE AND SPORT IN SOUTH AFRICA 



the service of man in Africa, it will be one redeem- 

 ing feature in the melancholy tale of a disappearing 

 fauna. 



The true quagga — Quacha of the Hottentots, 

 Eqims qimgga of scientists — now, alas ! quite extinct 

 — is the last of the four species of striped equidce till 

 lately found in Africa. In height this animal nearly 

 resembled Burchell's zebra, standing from 13 to 13| 

 hands. It was, however, of rather more robust form. 

 In colouring and marking the quagga differed 

 widely from the others of the group; the upper 

 colouring of the body being pale rufous-brown — 

 darker upon the neck and face — while the dark 

 brown stripings extended only as far as the barrel, 

 or a little behind the shoulder, after which they 

 entirely ceased. The ears and tail were more equine 

 than asinine (the tail being white and flowing) ; the 

 muzzle was black ; the crest high, well arched, and 

 surmounted by a full upstanding mane banded in 

 brown and white. A dark dorsal line ran to the 

 tail. The legs and belly were almost pure white, 

 and unstriped. 



Yea,rs ago, when I first visited Cape Colony, I took 

 a good deal of trouble to ascertain the life-history of 

 this animal. I found that it had been extinct for 

 some years, probably since 1865-70 in Cape Colony, 

 and a little later in the Orange Free State. In 

 1889 I contributed an article to the Field, pointing 



