or the real Wild Afs. 7 j 



can, together with an accurate drawing of it. The female 

 was brought ahve to Peterlliurgh, and was deUvcred to me 

 with the above defcriplion ; and from thefe the prtTent de- 

 fcription of llie wild afs or onager of the anticnts has been 

 formed. 



The Pcrfians pronounce the name of the wild afs hirhan, 

 a?^ it is written bv Olcarius. Thev call it alfo in the Turkifli 

 dialecl dagha-ijchaaki, or the mountain afs, becaufe it pre- 

 fers living'in the dried and mofl: mountainous deferts. Among 

 thefe as well as fume Tartar tribes it is an objeci of the chace, 

 and hunted in various ways. The Kirgifians lie in wait for 

 the kulan, and endeavour to flioot it in order to feafl: on its 

 flefl], for the roalled flcdi of this animal is one of their dain- 

 ties ; and indeed niuft not be ill taftcd, fuice we learn from 

 Pliny that the fle{h of the young onager was much fought- 

 after by the Romans*. On die other hand, the Pcrfians 

 rather try to catch the wild afs alive in pits carefully covered 

 fo as to conceal them, which they dig in the ground ; and, 

 that the animal may not be injured, they fill the pits to a 

 certain height w ith hay. The animals are driven towards 

 the places where fuch pits have been made, by a company of 

 hunters who aflcmble for that defign, and the young colts 

 are fold at a high price to the principal men of the country 

 for the purpofes of breeding. From the wild colts caught in 

 this manner are produced thofe beautiful and a6live riding 

 afles employed even in Perfia, and in Arabia and Egypt, for 

 travellinn; tliroLitrh the deferts, and which in the latter coun- 

 tries arc fold ibmetimcs for 75 ducats. According to the 

 account tranfniitted to me by M. Nicbuhr, there are many 

 of thefe riding afles which, in point of colour, have a perfect 

 rtfemblance to the wild afs here defcribed. Tavernier fays 

 that, in Perfia, beautiful faddle afles are dearer than the beft 

 horfes, and often cod a hundred dollars f. He makes an 

 exprefs difiinftion between them and the common breed of 

 aflt'S, which abound in Perfia as well as in Biicharia and 

 China, but are employed only for the draught and for carry- 

 ing burdens; and from the i'erfian cuftom which he men- 

 tions of painting thefe faddle afles red, which is done alfo in 

 Kg\'ptwilh \htkii7t7ia, we may perhaps be able to explain the 

 fabulous account given by yElian of the red-headed onager 



• Plhi. llift. }f.,t. lib. viii. c. 44:—" The b-.ft onagers are found in 

 Pluvgia and Lycaonia. The foals, as dainlies, arc known under the n:niic 

 lali/ionii, and come thictly from Africa.'" This author fays foon after 

 (cap. 4^. ) that Mcrenas, at the Roman entertainments, introduced the lieih 

 of young milks inftcad of that foreign vcnilbn. 



t V'oy.i^e de Tavernier, liv. iv. c. 3. 



K 4 in 



