441 



CLOVEN-FOOTED HORSE. 



Equus Bisulcus. E. petKbtu buukis. Lut. Syit. Nat. Gmel. 



p. 209. 



Horse with cloven hoofs. 

 Le Gncmcl, ou Huemel. Mulin Chil. p. 303. 

 Hucmcl. Pennant Quadr. i.p. 15. 



TIIK very name of this species seems to imply 

 a kind of equivocal ami anomalous being; one <!' 

 the most prominent characters of the present ge- 

 nus being a simple or undivided hoot. Indeed if 

 only a Dingle specimen of this animal had been 

 described, we might have hesitated as to admit- 

 ting it otherwise than as an accidental variety. 



The cloven-footed Horse is a native of South 

 America, and was first described by Molina in 

 his Natural History of Chili. In its general ap- 

 pearance, size, colour, and many other particulars, 

 both external and internal, it resembles the Ass ; 

 but has the voice and the ears of a Horse, and 

 has no cross or transverse band over the shoulders. 

 It is very wild, strong, and swift, and is found in 

 the rocky regions of the Andes or Cordilleras of 

 IVru and Chili. The hoofs are divided like those 

 of ruminant animals. 



It is singular that this curious species, which 

 seems, as it were, to form a kind of link between 

 tin cloven-hoofed and whole-hoofed tribes, should 

 have so long remained unknown to the natural* 

 ists of Europe. 



