HABITS OP THE ZEBRA. 431 



a governor or prefect of Egypt, sent several centurions to the 

 islands of the Erythra3an sea to fetch horses similar to tigers. 



The zebra is found in Abyssinia to the present day ; and as all 

 the coasts of the Red Sea were open to the Romans, there was 

 nothing to prevent them from becoming acquainted with the 

 zebra. 



Travellers through the African wilds have sometimes been 

 startled by piteous wailings, resembling the faint gasps and 

 stifled groanings of a drowning man. On approaching the 

 spot where they supposed some ravenous beast was lacerating 

 an unfortunate native, they were surprised to find a zebra in 

 its last agonies ; and well may the dying moans of the animal 

 be sorrowful, when we consider that even its neighings, when 

 heard from a distance, are of a very melancholy sound. 



Captain Harris tells us that it seeks the wildest and most 

 sequestered spots, so that it is exceedingly difficult of approach, 

 not only from its watchful habits and very great agility of 

 foot, but also from the inaccessible nature of its abode. The 

 herds graze on the steep hill-side, with a sentinel posted on 

 some adjacent crag, ready to sound the alarm in case of any 

 suspicious approach to their feeding quarters, and no sooner is 

 the alarm given than away they scamper, with pricked ears 

 and whisking their tails aloft, to places where few, if any, would 

 venture to pursue them. 



