WILD ASS 65 



to harness, although it was probably not so easily tamed as Burchell's 

 zebra." 



In the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for 1904 

 (p. 181) Prof. J. Cossar Ewart described a zebra, probably from the 

 district between the upper part of the Tana river and Lake Rudolf, 

 resembling E. zebra in height, the form and size of the head, ears, 

 and muzzle, in the characters of the mane, tail, and hoofs, and also in 

 the gridiron-pattern of the rump-stripes (fig. 23). It differs from that 

 species in the backward inclination of the hairs of the broad dorsal 

 stripe, and in certain details of striping and colour, the ground-colour 

 being rich cream. The name of Ward's zebra was suggested for this 

 animal, although no scientific designation was proposed. 



In the same journal for 1906 (p. 691) the Hon. Walter Rothschild 

 described, as Equiis anjtectans, a zebra from North-East Rhodesia, dis- 

 tinguished by its narrow white stripes and broad black stripes extending 

 from behind the ears to the root of the tail. The longitudinal stripes, 

 which extend from the root of the tail more towards the shoulder than 

 in any other zebra, are united to the transverse stripes, instead of 

 being broken, as in most races of the bonte-quagga. In the absence 

 of chestnut on the face it resembles E. biirchelli selousi. The head, 

 limbs, and tail are evenly marked with narrow white stripes on a 

 black ground ; and the ears are also strongly striped. The skull is 

 stated to be somewhat intermediate between that of the zebra and 

 that of the bonte-quagga. 



THE AFRICAN WILD ASS 



{Eqiius asinus) 



Duber Dibhuded, Somali 



(Plate ii, fig. i) 



The last of the African representatives of the horse family is the 

 wild ass, which is found in north-eastern Africa, south of the Tropic, 

 from upper Nubia to Somaliland. It is the only species of wild ass 

 found within the tropics, and the only one which is completely grey 

 at all seasons of the year. 



In size the wild ass is medium or large, the height at the shoulder 

 ranging from 3 feet 9^ inches to 4 feet i inch. The ears are very 

 long, the hoofs small and narrow, with no marked superiority in the 



F 



