316 MAMMALIA— ZEBRA. 



and lameness from his earliest years, he would become as mild as the ass 

 and the horse, and might be substituted in their room. 



The zebra is chiefly found in the southern parts of Africa ; often seen near 

 the Cape of Good Hope, and a penalty of fifty rix dollars is inflicted on any 

 person who shoots one of tliem. Such of them as are caught alive, are 

 presented to the governor. Several have been brought to England ; but, 

 except in one instance, they have all displayed great wildness, and even 

 ferocity. The exception was in that which was burnt some years ago at 

 Exeter 'Change. It would allow young children to be put upon its back, 

 and Avas once ridden from the Lyceum to Pimlico ; but it was bred and 

 reared in Portugal, from parents half reclaimed. In several other cases, 

 zebras have attempted to injure spectators, and have not even spared their 

 keepers. The voice of this creature is thought to have a distant resem- 

 blance to the sound of a post horn. 



THE ZEBRA OF THE PLAINS. i 



The zebra which we have just described, is confined to the mountains ; 

 the subject of the present article inhabits the flat parts near the Cape. Till 

 very recently, the difference between them was not accurately understood. 

 " The ground color of its whole body," says Mr Bennett, " is white, inter- 

 rupted by a regular series of broad black stripes extending from the back 

 across the sides, with narrower and fainter ones intervening between each. 

 Over the haunches and shoulders, these stripes form a kind of bifurcation, 

 between the divisions of which there are a few transverse lines of the same 

 color ; but these suddenly and abruptly cease, and are not continued on the 

 legs, which are perfectly white. Along the back there is a narrow, longitudi- 

 nal line, bordered on each side with white. The mane is throughout broadly 

 and deeply tipped with black, and is marked by a continuation of the trans- 

 verse bands of the neck. The lines of the face are narrow and beautifully 

 regular ; from the centre of the forehead they radiate downwards over the 

 eyes ; along the front of the muzzle they are longitudinal, the outer ones 

 having a curve outwards ; and on the sides they form broader transverse 

 bands. From the confluence of these bands on the extremity of the muz- 

 zle, the nose, and the lower lip, those parts become of a nearly uniform 

 blackish broAvn. The tail is white : there is no longitudinal ventral line : 

 and a large black patch occupies the posterior part of the ear, near the tip. 

 The hoofs are moderately large, deep in front, shalloAV behind, and much 

 expanded at their margin." 



The subject of the present article, which has now been about two years 

 in the menagerie, will suffer a boy to ride her about the yard; and is 



' Equus viontanus, Burchell. 



