1434 The Zoologist — November, 1868. 



affirmative is assumed. There are at least three species of Equus 

 which might claim this honour, and it seems very difficult to decide 

 between them. Supposing the Abyssinian to have the right to this 

 distinction, it is one of the very few quadrupeds that are equally at 

 home in a state of nature and under the protection of man. And 

 supposing, again, the wild ass of Abyssinia and the domestic ass of 

 Egypt to constitute but a single species, there follows a second possi- 

 bility, namely, that the wild animal may have escaped from servitude, 

 just as the wild horses of America have descended from the war-steeds 

 that accompanied the Spaniards. 



" The tracks of wild asses had beeu frequent, but hitherto I had 

 not seen the animals, as their drinking-hour was at night, after which 

 they travelled far into the desert : however, on the morning of the 

 29th June, shortly after the start at about 6 a.m., we perceived three 

 of these beautiful creatures on our left — an ass, a female, and a foal. 

 They were about half a mile distant when first observed, and upon 

 our approach to within half that distance they halted and faced about ; 

 they were evidently on their return to the desert from the river. 

 Those who have only seen donkeys in their civilized state have no 

 conception of the beauty of the wild and original animal. Far from the 

 passive and subdued appearance of the English ass, the animal in its 

 native desert is the perfection of activity and courage ; there is a high- 

 bred tone in the deportment, a high-actioned step when it trots freely 

 over the rocks and sand, with the speed of a horse when it gallops 

 over the boundless desert. No animal is more difficult of approach ; 

 and, although they are frequently captured by the Arabs, those taken 

 are invariably the foals, which are ridden down by fast dromedaries, 

 while the mothers escape. The colour of the wild ass is a reddish 

 cream, tinged with the shade most prevalent of the ground that it 

 inhabits ; thus it much resembles the sand of the desert." Sir Samuel 

 killed a male, and observes, " This fine specimen was in excellent 

 condition, although the miserable pasturage of the desert is confined 

 to the wiry herbage already mentioned: of this the stomach was full, 

 chewed into morsels like chopped reeds. The height of this male ass 

 was about 13.3 or 14 hands : the shoulder was far more sloping than 

 that of the domestic ass : the hoofs were remarkable for their size ; 

 they were wide, firm, and as bvoad as those of a horse of 15 hands." 

 — p. 55. 



Now for a few paragraphs about the birds; and it is here that the 



