GREVY'S ZEBRA THE ASS 23 



ally in its long ears. Its stripes are bold, on a cream-coloured ground, with no 

 shadow-stripes, and run down to the hoof; on the quarters, above the base of the 

 tail, they form a characteristic " gridiron pattern " of short cross-bars meeting a 

 central band. A small dewlap on the middle of the neck is also a characteristic 

 of this animal. 



GREVY'S ZEBRA 



(JSguus grevyi) 



THIS beautiful animal, the largest and finest of all wild animals of the Horse 

 family, was only made known to modern science in 1882, although from the fact 

 that it inhabits countries near the seats of ancient civilisation, being found in 

 Abyssinia and Somaliland, it was no doubt the animal known to the ancients as 

 "Tiger-Horse" (hippotigris). In size it equals a rather small Horse, with a 

 particularly large but beautifully-formed head and ears. The stripes are very 

 narrow, numerous, and closely placed, black on a pure white ground, and the 

 barrel-stripes do not curve backwards across the quarters as in the other Zebras, 

 both body and hind-quarters being covered with stripes running upwards almost 

 directly. This splendid animal has of late years been represented in the London 

 Zoological Gardens, and while the present work was being written a foal was 

 born there. 



THE ASS 



{Equus asinus) 



THE wild ancestor of our humble coster's drudge still exists in North-East Africa, 

 and the typical race exactly resembles in colour a common grey Donkey, with 

 the same characteristic cross on the withers, caused by the back-stripe inter- 

 secting with a shoulder-stripe. In Somaliland, however, there is a race on which 

 these stripes are absent, while the bars on the legs, which may often be seen in 

 tame Donkeys, are very well developed and distinct. 



The wild Ass is bigger than the ordinary Donkeys one sees, though not larger 

 than the fine breeds kept for riding in parts of the East and for Mule-breeding 

 in Europe, and it has the beauty, sleekness, and agility of the Zebra, though 

 the characteristic length of ears is always noticeable. The degeneracy of the 

 Ass in captivity is simply due to neglect, the existence of fine large domestic 

 breeds showing that fine Asses may be had if due attention is paid to their 

 treatment and selection. But neither the Ass itself, nor its hybrid offspring with 

 the Horse, the Mule, is much thought of in England, where there is ample facility 



