THE ZEBRA. 221 



This animal, which is neither to be found in 

 Europe, Asia, or America, is nevertheless very 

 easily fed. That which came over into England 

 some years ago would eat almost any thing, such 

 as bread, meat, and tobacco ; that which is now 

 among us subsists entirely upon hay. As it so 

 nearly resembles the horse and the ass in struc- 

 ture, so it probably brings forth annually as they 

 do. The noise they make is neither like that of 

 a horse nor an ass, but more resembling the con- 

 fused barking of a mastiff dog. In the two which 

 I saw, there was a circumstance that seems to 

 have escaped naturalists ; which is, that the skin 

 hangs loose below the jaw upon the neck, in a 

 kind of dewlap, which takes away much from the 

 general beauty. But whether this be a natural 

 or accidental blemish, I will not take upon me to 

 determine. 



These animals are often sent as presents to the 

 princes of the East. We are told that one of the 

 governors of Batavia gave a zebra, which had 

 been sent to him from Africa, to the emperor of 

 Japan, for which he received as an equivalent for 

 the Company a present to the value of sixty thou- 

 sand crowns.* Teller also relates, that the Great 

 Mogul gave two thousand ducats for one of them ; 

 and it is frequent with the African ambassadors 

 to the court of Constantinople, to bring some of 

 these animals with them as presents for the Grand 

 Signior. 



* Navcndorf. 



