98 THE HORSE. 



defined. This animal, formerly so abundant upon 

 the far-spreading karroos of the Cape Colony and 

 the plains of the Orange Free State, appears never 

 to have been met with north of the Yaal River. Its 

 actual habitat may be precisely defined as within 

 Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, and part of 

 Griqualand "West. I do not find that it ever ex- 

 tended to Namaqualand and the Kalahari Desert to 

 the west, or beyond the Kei River, the ancient eastern 

 limit of Cape Colony, to the east. In many coun- 

 tries, and in Southern Africa in particular, nothing 

 is more singular than the freaks of geographical dis- 

 tribution of animals. A river, or a desert, or a little 

 belt of sand or timber none of which, of themselves, 

 could naturally oppose a complete obstacle to the 

 animal's range is yet found limiting thus arbitrarily 

 the habitat of a species. 77 * 



There are thus at least seven modifications of the 

 horse type, at present or very recently existing, suf- 

 ficiently distinct to be reckoned as species by all zo- 

 ologists, and easily recognized by their external char- 

 acters. They are, however, all so closely allied that 

 each will, at least in a state of captivity, cross with 

 perfect freedom with any of the others. Cases of 



* Kloof and Karroo (Sport, Legend, and Natural History 

 in Cape Colony; 1889). 



