38 THE MOUNTAIN ZEBRA. 



purchased a few j^ears later, and in 1887 a young male 

 was obtained, whose portrait, taken at the time, is given in 

 the plate. 



The mountain zebra in form more nearly resembles the 

 ass than the one now better known as Burchell's zebra. It 

 is also the smaller of the two, being about 4ft. across the 

 withers. It has longer ears than the Burchell's zebra, and 

 a considerably shorter mane. The general ground colour 

 is white, but the stripes are black, and broader than the 

 intervals that separate them. The stripes on the body 

 are all nearly perpendicular. The muzzle is a bright 

 brown. If we except the abdomen, which has a longitu- 

 dinal stripe along it, and the inside of the thighs, the whole 

 of the body is striped, the legs being covered with trans- 

 verse hands reaching down to the hoofs, and the base of the 

 tail itself is transversely marked. It is remarkably distin- 

 guished from the other striped equine animals by what has 

 been termed by some travellers the ^^ gridiron '^ marking 

 above the tail, formed by a series of short transverse bands 

 passing' from the middle dorsal stripe outwards, and 

 generally joining the uppermost of the broad stripes on 

 the haunch. This is always present, and serves to distin- 

 guish at once the mountain zebra, from the other striped 

 members of the group. It is also characterised by the 

 presence of a distinct, though small, dewlap, which is well 

 shown in the vignette at the end of this chapter. 



It is interesting to note that the gestation of the zebra 

 approaches to that of the ass rather than that of the horse. 

 The Earl of Derby, writing of one in the " Knowsley 

 Menagerie,^' said, " Mine has gone more than a week over 

 twelve months.'' 



The employment of arms of precision has already 

 effected a great change in the fauna of South Africa, and 



