i ioo THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED MAMMALS 



the throat, and the under parts are white, and there is frequently a large amount of 

 white on the limbs. There is some amount of individual variation in regard to the 

 relative length of the ears, mane, tail, and limbs; and the degree of development of 

 the shoulder and leg stripes, is also variable, the former being sometimes very 

 narrow and faintly marked, while in other cases the latter markings may be 

 absent. The height may reach four feet eight inches (fourteen hands) at the 

 withers. 



The African wild ass is widely distributed in the desert regions of 

 Distribution Northeastern Africa, occurring in Abyssinia, Somaliland, the Sudan, 

 and other districts in the neighborhood of the Red Sea. Sir Samuel 

 Baker says that on the margin of the Atbara desert ' ' the tracks of wild asses had 

 been frequent, but hitherto I had not seen the animals, as their drinking hour was 

 at night, after which they traveled far into the desert. However, on the morning 

 of the twenty-ninth of June, shortly after the start at about 6A.M., we preceived 

 three of these beautiful creatures on our left an ass, a female, and a foal. They 

 were about half a mile distant when first observed, and upon our approach to 

 within half that distance they halted and faced about. They were evidently on 

 their return to the desert from the river. Those who have seen donkeys in their 

 civilized state have no conception of the beauty of the wild and original animal. 

 Far from the passive and subdued appearance of the English ass, the animal in its 

 native desert is the perfection of activity and courage; there is a high-bred tone in 

 the deportment, a high-actioned step when it trots freely over the rocks and sand, 

 with the speed of a horse. When it gallops freely over the boundless desert, no 

 animal is more difficult to approach, and, although they are frequently captured by 

 the Arabs, those taken are invariably the foals, which are ridden down by fast 

 dromedaries, while the mothers escape." The author then proceeds to notice how 

 admirably the coloration of these animals harmonizes with that of their desert 

 surroundings. Their food consists of the wiry herbage found in such regions, but, 

 in spite of such apparently poor diet, these animals are always found in fine con- 

 dition. The flesh is eaten by the Arabs. It appears that these asses are found 

 either in parties of two or three or in small herds, but th#t they do not assemble in 

 large troops. Their bray is practically indistinguishable from that of the domestic 

 race. 



_ . . The domestic ass is evidently the tamed African ass, in most cases 



deteriorated by bad food and hard usage. Any description of such a 

 well-known animal would be superfluous; but it may be observed that, while gray 

 is the ordinary color, the tint may vary in one direction until it passes into white, 

 while in the other it gradually darkens into a deep brown or even black. The dark 

 stripe running down the back is usually distinct in the lighter-colored varieties, but 

 the shoulder stripe is less constant, being frequently absent, although in some in- 

 stances duplicated. The bars on the legs are generally wanting in the adult, 

 although they are frequently more or less distinctly marked in the foal. 



The ass was known to the ancient Egyptians long before the horse, and was, 

 indeed, probably first domesticated in the valley of the Nile, whence it has spread 

 over almost the whole of the habitable regions of the globe. We are not aware, 



