i8o THE GREAT THICK-SKINNED ANIMALS 



swift enough to race, while the carriage-horse ought to have some 

 of the quahties of each, and to be more sturdy than the former, but 

 swifter than the latter. 



And so man, by carefully selecting those animals which seem best 

 suited to the different kinds of labor, and keeping each strictly to its 

 special work, has obtained what we call the various breeds of horses, 

 just as he has the breeds of dogs. He has, in fact, carried on nature's 

 work, and, as we may say, has obtained three assistants in jjlace of 

 one, for the race-horse, the carriage-horse, and the dray-horse are so 

 unlike one another that we might almost consider them to be dift"erent 

 animals, if we did not happen to know the manner in which they had 

 been obtained. 



The Ouagga. — Another member of this interesting family is 

 the quagga, an animal much like Burchell's zebra. The height at the 

 shoulders is about the same, but the form is more robust. It has the 

 same horse-like tail and ears, the latter marked with two irregular black 

 bands. The crest is high, surmounted by a standing mane banded al- 

 ternately brown and white. The color of the head, neck and upper 

 parts of the body is reddish brown, irregularly banded and marked 

 with dark brown stripes, stronger on the head and neck, and gradually 

 becoming fainter until lost behind the shoulder. The dorsal line, or 

 line running along the back, is broad and dark. The belly, legs and 

 tail are white. 



The methods of hunting this beautiful animal are like those 

 employed against the zebra. Either a charge on horseback and a trial 

 of speed or by stalking — crawling along up the wind and taking every 

 advantage of the peculiarities of the ground to conceal the hunter until 

 he can get witlr'n range for a shot. It is very difficult to put either of 

 these methods into execution successfully, for the quagga as well as 

 the zebra are extremely wary, and some sharpsighted animal, gen- 

 erally a hartebeest, of which we shall speak later in its proper order, 

 stands guard over the herd. One may easily imagine the feeling of 

 disappointment which comes to a sportsman when, after crawling on 

 hands and knees for an hour over ground so hot that it feels like the 

 top of a stove and stubble so sharp that it cuts through the skin and 

 leaves the hands raw and bleeding, to see the herd he is stalking sud- 



