THE TRUE QUAGGA Ijl 



things must be to all naturalists, it is sad 

 to reflect that had such steps been taken 

 earlier, far more might have been done. Perhaps 

 it would have been too much to expect the early 

 settlers of 1652-1800 to have prevented the 

 extinction of the blaauwbok ; at first, indeed, 

 they seem to have been afraid that the wfld 

 beasts would exterminate them ! l It seems, how- 

 ever, regrettable that the once abundant white 

 rhinoceros should have been almost utterly exter- 

 minated south of the Zambesi during the last fifty 

 years, while the loss of the beautiful true quagga 

 of Cape Colony, the Orange River Colony, and 

 Griqualand West is even more to be deplored, for 

 it seems that with a little protection it could easily 

 have been saved, and might even have become a 

 domestic animal. 



The true Quagga (Equus quagga) stood about 

 4 ft. 6 in. high at the withers. In general pro- 

 portions it resembled a stout pony, and the mane, 

 and tail and hoofs were semi-equine. The body 

 colour was rufous brown, becoming fulvous 

 posteriorly, and fading to white on the abdomen, 

 legs, and tail. The head was of a bay colour, striped 

 with brown, in zebra fashion. The neck was orna- 

 mented with broad bands of dark brown, alternating 



1 Governor Tulbagh records in his diary that on one occasion it 

 almost seemed as if the lions would take the fort by storm ! Hippo- 

 potami were common on the present site of Capetown, and the 

 abundant (black) rhinoceroses made hay of the settlers' crops. 



