452 



THE ORIGIN OF THE LIBYAN HORSE 



[CH. 



North in early days was dun. In modern Norway the colour is 

 dun, varying from cream colour to dark mouse-dun ; and an 

 animal is not considered purely bred unless it has the spinal 

 and leg stripes. A large proportion (one-third) have striped 

 legs, one pony having seven on the fore-legs and two on the 

 hind-legs, but only a few exhibit shoulder stripes ^ 



33. A sand-coloured (yellow-dun) Norwegian pony, with 

 black mane and tail, in the possession of Prof. Ewart, has stripes 

 on the face, neck, body, and legs. " On the forehead there are 

 two all but complete frontal arches and portions of five others. 

 Being of a reddish-brown colour, these stripes are easily seen 

 when the forelock is thrown back. The uppermost (orbital) 

 arch ends in the frontal tuft, but instead of forming an actually 

 pointed arch as in Matopo (his Burchell's zebra), it forms a 

 somewhat rounded arch, as in the Amsterdam quagga" and in 

 one of Prof. Ewart's zebra hybrids. Fragments of the other 

 arches are most distinct in the middle of the forehead. " In 

 having seven more or less complete frontal arches," says Prof. 

 Ewart", " this pony differs from my Burchell zebra, in which 

 there are only three distinct arches in the corresponding posi- 

 tion. When the incomplete arches are ' restored,' a pattern is 

 formed which is almost intermediate between that of the 

 Amsterdam quagga and the Somali zebra. From within the 

 lowest arch several obscure lines, such as occur in zebra-ass 

 hybrids, can be traced along the face. The stripes doubtless 

 originally ended in or near a mealy-coloured muzzle, such as 

 we find to-day in typical Exmoor ponies and some Somali 

 zebras." In this Norwegian pony " there are only a few light 

 hairs at the tip of the ears, but immediately below there is 

 a broad black band, and an indistinct band near the base. Had 

 the tip been lighter in colour, the ear of this pony would have 

 not a little resembled in its decoration that of my Burchell 

 zebra." Ewart has seen two other ponies, in colour light dun — 



1 Darwin, Variation, Vol. i. p. 61. It is right to add that during the present 

 summer (1904) my friend Dr Venn, F.E.S., and his son Mr J. A. Venn have 

 examined for me a large number of Norwegian ponies at various coast towns 

 in Norway, without having met a single instance of striping. 



- Penycuik Exp., pp. 102-3, fig, 36. 



