314 NATURAL HISTORY OF AFRICA. 



The aspect of the zebra is too famiUarly known to re- 

 quire description. It is one of the most fancifully adorned 

 of all known quadrupeds ; but the beauty of its external ap- 

 pearance is its chief merit, as its disposition is wayward 

 and capricious in the extreme. With the exception of one 

 or two instances, in which persevering individuals have suc- 

 ceeded in subduing the stubbornness of its nature, it has 

 not been rendered subservient to the purposes of the hu- 

 man race. It is a mountain-animal, called dauw by the 

 Hottentots, and is scarcely ever seen on the plains. 



The zebra of the plains, although only recently charac- 

 terized as a distinct kind, is in fact a better known and more 

 abundant species than the other. It is chiefly distinguished by 

 the want of rings upon the legs. *' I stopped," says Mr. Bur- 

 chell, " to examine these zebras with my pocket telescope : 

 they were the most beautifully marked animals I had ever 

 seen ; their clean sleek limbs glittered in the sun, and the 

 brightness and regularity of their striped coat presented a 

 picture af extraordinary beauty, in whach probably they are 

 not surpassed by any quadruped with which we are at pre- 

 sent acquainted. It is indeed equalled in this particular 

 by the dauw, whose stripes are more defined and regular, 

 but which do not offer to the eye so lively a colouring." 



The quagga is more nearly allied to the zebra of the 

 plains than to that of the mountains. It lives in troops in 

 the neighbourhood of the Cape, and, in common with the 

 zebra, is frequently found in company with ostriches. The 

 wary disposition of these birds, and their great quickness 

 of sight, are supposed to be serviceable to the congre- 

 gated group in warning them of the approach of their ene- 

 mies. 



The next great tribe of animals which falls under oui 

 consideration, is that of the ruminating class (order Pecora, 

 Linn.) ; and of that tribe the most important member, and 

 the most influential on the destinies of Africa, is (he camel, 

 or "shipof thedesert,"as it is beautifully called in the figura- 

 tive language of the Arabs. " Of all animals," says Buffon, 

 " the camel is the most ancient, the completest, and most 

 laborion.*' slave. He is the most ancient slave, because he 

 inhabit? those climates where men were first polished. He 

 IS the rrv «t complete slave, because in the other species of 

 domestic animals, as the horse the dog, the ox, the sheep, 



