cr the real IVtld Afs, hj 



hcwly-foaled horres. The ftfipe on the back begins at the 

 vkinc, and ends at the comniencemCiif of the tail : it is almoft 

 of a coffee-brown colour, broader towards the os fxrttm, 

 pointed towards the tail, and every where covered, even in 

 furhmer, when the anim-il is almoft perfeftly fmooth, with 

 thick matted hair, which feems very different from the 

 reft. The hair which forms the bufh at the end of the tail is 

 almoft as ftrong as that of the mane of the horfe, and a full 

 fpan in length. 



The fort of fear in the inner fide of the flO'e-feet, which in 

 the common afs is round, I found in the wild afs to be 

 longifh, but not perfeaiy oval. The hoofs of all the four 

 feet have in the place of the fpur an elevation covered with 

 a horny fkin. The hoofs are almoft round, and have deep 

 cavities on the foles. 



The hair of the onager, and particularly in the winter, 

 is much (ilkicr and foftcr than that of the horfe : it may be 

 compared to the beft camel's hair. The winter wool is 

 matted, has an oily touch, and where the ifabella colour pre- 

 vails, that colour is much paler, a few places excepted, where 

 it is (liaded in a different dircdion, and particularly accordin<»- 

 to the lines expreffed in the llgure. 



In the onager [counted only fixteen articulations of the tail; 

 the others were in number equal to thofeofthe common afs. 

 It had only thirty-two teeth, viz. in each jaw fix grinders 

 v^ry much ufed, and in each fide row five cheek- teedi. In' 

 the interior parts I could obferve no further difference be- 

 tween them and thofe of the common afs than arc often to 

 be found in animals of the fame fpcciesr In the great gut I 

 found very large worms (r7/r//r/.f/>o//?c-rtm), fuch as are fre- 

 quently found in horfes ; and here and there in the fmall 

 guts fome afcarides, fmaller than thofe common in man. 

 Thofe writers alfo who affert that the afs is never infefted bv 

 external vermin, muft not extend this obfervation to the 

 wild afs ; for the one here defcribed was fo covered with a 

 fort of fmall lice, that the hair feemed as if flrewed over with* 

 them. 



I have already faid that the Kirgifians prefer the {lefti of 

 the kulun to all other game, and even to that of their younw» 

 horfes, of wiiich they are fo fond. The fame tafte feems to 

 prevail among the Arabs *; and the writers of that nation, in 

 regard to this food, make the fame diftintlion between the 

 wild and tame §fs as the Hebrews made between both ani- 



• See Bociiart's Hlno-xoicon, lib.iii, c. 16^ and Forlkiil's 0'>f,rval.Zoolo^. 

 p. 5. where the onager is mciuioneJ under the Arabian name djaar. 



mais : 



