-popular SHcttnnary flf 



753 



and legs are pure white : there are obscure 

 traces of black transverse markings on the 

 arm. Major Harris, who had so many op- 

 portunities of seeing this fine species in a 

 state of nature, remarks that, " beautifully 

 clad by the hand of nature, possessing much 

 of the graceful symmetry of the horse, with 

 great bone and muscular power, united to 

 easy and stylish action thus combining 

 comeliness of figure with solidity of form, 

 this species, if subjugated and domesticated, 

 would assuredly make the best pony in the 

 world. Although it admits of being tamed 

 to a certain extent with considerable facility, 

 a half-domesticated specimen with a jockey 

 on its brindled back being occasionally ex- 

 posed in Cape Town for sale, it has hitherto 

 contrived to evade the yoke of servitude. 



. . The voice of this free-born son of 

 the desert has no analogy to the discordant 

 braying of the ass, but consists of a shrill 

 abrupt ueigh, which may be likened to the 



i barking of a dog, as heard by a passer by, 

 1 1 from the interior of a house. The senses of 



j sight, hearing, and smell are extremely de- 

 licate. The slightest noise or motion, no 

 less than the appearance of any object that 

 is unfamiliar, at once rivets their gaze, and 

 causes them to stop and listen with the ut- 

 most attention ; any taint in the air equally 

 attracting their olfactory organs. Instinct 

 having taught these beautiful animals that 

 in union consists their strength, they com- 

 bine in a compact body when menaced by 

 an attack either from man or beast ; and, if 

 overtaken by the foe, they unite for mutual 

 defence, with their heads together in a close 

 circular band, presenting their heels to the 

 enemy, and dealing out kicks in equal force 

 and abundance. Beset on all sides, or par- 

 tially crippled, they rear on their hinder legs, 

 fly at the adversary with jaws distended, and 

 use both teeth and heels with the greatest 

 freedom. " Harris, 'Game and Wild Ani- 

 mals of Smith Africa,' p. 19. It is called 



! Eonte Quagga by the Cape Colonists, and 

 Peetsey by the Bechuanas. 



ZEBU. The name given to the humped 

 varieties of oxen which are found in India 

 and the Asiatic Islands, and extend along 

 the eastern coast of Africa to the Cape of 

 Good Hope. They are used as beasts of 

 burden, apd serve as articles of food, though 

 in this respect its flesh is by no means equal 

 to that of our domestic breeds. The hump, 

 which is chiefly composed of fat, is regarded 



as a great delicacy. Zebus differ greatly in 

 dimensions ; some are of large size, while 

 others, of which we have figured a female and 

 young, are not much larger than a sheep : 



*>. 



they vary in colour; the most common variety 

 is of a light gray, passing into cream-colour. 

 The Hindoos treat the larger breed with su- 

 perstitious veneration. [See BKAHMIN BULL.] 



ZEE-KOE. The name given by the Dutch 

 colonists in South Africa to the Hippopota- 

 mus. [See HIPPOPOTAMUS.] 



ZERDA. The name often given to the 

 long-eared, dog-like quadruped called the 

 Fennec. [See FENNEC.] 



ZEUS, ZEID^E. A genus and family of 

 Acanthopterygious fishes, remarkable for 

 their compressed form ; to this group belongs 

 the JOHN DORY and the Or AH DOKY (Zeus 

 OpaK) which latter is a very superb species, 

 and inhabits the seas of warm regions, being 

 only an occasional visitant of the Mediterra- 

 nean and Northern seas. In size it exceeds 

 every other species, measuring between four 

 and five feet in length; in colour it appears to 

 vary, the ground being sometimes a brilliant 

 silvery green, and sometimes a bright gold- 

 colour ; but in either case the body is varie- 

 gated on the sides with pretty numerous oval 

 white spots, while the fins and tail are bright 

 scarlet. The skin is apparently destitute of 

 scales, and perfectly smooth. Two or three in- 

 stances have occurred of this very beautifully 

 coloured species having been taken on the 

 British coast ; one, which weighed between 

 seventy and eighty pounds, was thrown upon 

 the sands at Blyth, near Newcastle, in 1769 ; 

 the colours and beauty of which are stated 

 to " beggar all description ; the upper part 

 being of a bright green, variegated with 

 whitish spots, and enriched with a shining 

 golden hue, like the splendour of a peacock's 

 leather." Another specimen was caught at 

 Brixham, in Torbay, in 1772, which "weighed 

 a hundred and forty pounds, measuring four 

 feet and a half in length, and two feet and 

 a quarter in breath : its greatest thickness 

 was only four inches, and the general colour 

 was a vivid transparent scarlet varnish over 

 burnished gold, bespangled with oval silver 

 spots of various sizes." [See DOEY.] 



ZEUZERA. A genus of nocturnal Lepi- 

 doptera, two species of which are found in 

 this country, one of these, however, is ex- 

 tremely rare ; the more common species, the 

 Wood-leopard, (Zeuzera jEsculi) is white and 



