362 



BIG GAME SHOOTING 



a side ravine ; but as a rule the sportsman has only the choice 

 of two alternatives : either to take the first opportunity of hiding 

 and remaining hidden till the disturbance is over, or else going 

 to some other part of the ground. 



Measurements. 



LIII. THE WILD ASS (Eguus onager) 



Native names: ' Ghor khur," 1 Hindi; ' GAour,' ' Kherdecht, Persian; 

 ' Koulan* Kirghiz (Sterndale}. 



The wild ass is common in Persia and extends through 

 Beluchistan and Sind to the Bikaneer Desert and Kutch, its 

 southern limit according to Jerdon being Deesa, and its eastern 

 75 E. longitude. It is closely allied to, if not identical with, 

 the wild ass of Assyria, Equus hemippus. 



As south of the Indus the wild ass is by no means common, 

 and is very shy and difficult to stalk in the open desert, 

 comparatively few have been shot by Europeans. Sterndale, 

 quoting Major Tytler, says that on the Bikaneer Desert the 

 natives organise a hunt once a year to catch the foals for sale to 

 native princes, and that a full-grown one has more than once 

 been run down fairly and speared. The Beluchis also ride 

 down and catch the foals, and shoot the full-grown ones 

 for food, the ground there being favourable for stalking. A 

 gallop after a wild ass should be exciting, but few sportsmen, 

 the writer imagines, would care to shoot more than one 

 specimen of a beast whose sole trophies are the hoofs. 



Sterndale says they stand eleven or twelve hands at the 

 shoulder, which is considerably smaller than the kyang. 



