20 THE WILD ASS OF SOMALILAND. 



whicli lie there met witli were all precisely of tlie same 

 description. 



Mr. Lort Phillips wrote as follows : 



" On March 22, 1884, when about twenty miles to the west of 

 Berberah, we fell in with a small herd of wild asses. After a 

 long and tedious stalk I succeeded in bagghig one, which turned 

 out to be of quite a new species to me, having no mark whatever 

 on the body, which was of a beautiful French grey colour. On 

 its legs, however, it had black stripes rmming diagonally. I 

 have unfortunately lost the book in which I put its measure- 

 ments, but it was a superb creature, and stood quite 14 hands 

 at the shoulder ; our Berberah horses looked quite small in 

 comparison." 



Whether this Somali ass should be regarded as a distinct 

 species from the ordinary African wild ass or merely a 

 local variation is uncertain^ and depends on the view taken 

 of specific distinctions by each individual. There appears 

 to me to be little doubt they would breed together and 

 produce fertile offspring. It is not without interest to 

 remark that as we go further south from Abyssinia towards 

 the Cape the asses approximate more closely to the striped 

 equines; the zebras and quaggas of South Africa. 



