THE ZEBRAS 1093 



BurcheH's zebra is a plain-dwelling animal, which never appears to 



dH b't have ran S e( l southward of the Orange river. It now appears to 



be practically exterminated in the Transvaal, but is still to be met 



with in numbers in the districts to the south of the Botletli river, to the north of 



the Kalahari, while in wet seasons a few range further south into the latter district; 



and it is common on the plains of the Chobe and Zambezi, as well as in East Africa. 



How far northward it extends does not appear to be ascertained. 



Messrs. Nicolls and Eglington state that ' ' zebras of this species may sometimes 

 be found in herds of from fifty to one hundred, but more often numbering from ten 

 to fifteen, and they are commonly found associating with ostriches, blue wilde- 

 beests, and hartbeests. On being hunted, and if not urged too much at the start, 

 they keep generally in single file, the stallions being in front; but when hard pur- 

 sued they run more in a lump, and at such times it requires a really good horse to 

 overtake them. When one is wounded, it will invariably separate from the re- 

 mainder of the troop. The neigh of this species resembles in sound the subdued 

 whining bark of a dog. The flesh, although unpalatable to Europeans, is much rel- 

 ished by the natives, on account of its containing a quantity of yellow fat. A large 

 number of these zebras are also slaughtered for the sake of their hides, while others 

 fall a prey to lions, who seem to have a great partiality for horseflesh. " It is this 

 species of zebra which is the one commonly met with in menageries. Many at- 

 tempts have been made to break it to harness; and, in the Transvaal, teams com- 

 posed partly of mules and partly of zebras have of late years been worked more or 

 less successfully. Zebras were known to the ancients under the name of hippotigris, 

 and were exhibited from time to time in the Roman circus; such individuals not 

 improbably belonging to the next species. 



All who have seen zebras in their native haunts, speak of the beautiful appear- 

 ance presented by a drove, as they stand for a moment to gaze at the hunter, and 

 then wheel round to seek safety in flight; and as they afford but unsatisfactory tro- 

 phies, it seems a pity that so many are killed for the mere sake of sport. It has been 

 stated that, when standing on sandy ground in full moonlight, a zebra harmonizes 

 so exactly with the color of its surroundings as to be quite invisible at a short 

 distance. 



The third representative of the group is GreVy's zebra (E. grevyi}, 

 a from the mountains northward of the Victoria Nyanza, and thence 

 onward to the highlands of Shoa and Somaliland, which has only been made known 

 to science within the last few years. This species is a taller and slimmer animal 

 than the true zebra, with which, however, it agrees in having the limbs striped 

 right down to the hoofs, in the absence of stripes on the under parts of the body, 

 and the long ears. On the other hand, it resembles Burchell's zebra in the long 

 mane and abundantly-haired tail. It is distinguished from both by the much greater 

 number of the stripes, which are very narrow, deep black in color, and separated 

 by equally narrow white streaks. The arrangement of the stripes is, moreover, 

 quite different, those which run transversely across the sides occupying a mnch 

 greater extent of the body, and the obliquely-longitudinal ones on the haunches 

 being proportionately shortened. 



