THE ZEBRA. 



Account of a zebra exhibited in London. 



stripes, which in the male are brown on a yellow- 

 ish white ground, and in the female black on a 

 white ground* 



Zebras inhabit the southern parts of Africa, 

 where vast herds of them afford an agreeable re- 

 lief to the eye of the wearied traveller. They 

 assemble in the day on the extensive plains of 

 the interior of the country, and by their beauty 

 and liveliness adorn and animate the dreary 

 scene. Such, however, is their watchfulness, 

 that they w r ill suffer nothing to approach them. 



All attempts to tame this animal so as to ren- 

 der it serviceable to mankind have been hitherto 

 fruitless. Wild and independent by nature it 

 seems ill adapted to servitude and restraint. If, 

 however, it were taken young, and much care 

 were bestowed in its education, it might probably 

 be in a great measure domesticated. 



A beautiful male zebra exhibited some years 

 ago at the Lyceum, in the Strand, was so gen- 

 tle, that the keeper has often been seen to put 

 young children upon its back, without any 

 attempt from the animal to injure them : and, in 

 one instance, a person rode it from the Lyceum, 

 to Pimlico. This unusual docility in an animal 

 naturally vicious, may, however, be accounted 

 for, from its having been bred and reared in Por- 

 tugal, from parents that were themselves half re- 

 claimed. Mr. Church, in his Cabinet of Qua- 

 drupeds, has stated this zebra to have been 

 burnt from the mischievous act of a monkey, 

 2x2 



