MAMMALIA—ZEBRA. 315 
a striped roke of black and white alternately disposed with so much regula- 
rity and symmetry, that it seems as if nature had made use of the rule and 
compass to paint it. These alternate bands of black and white are so much 
the more singular, as they are straight, parallel, and very exactly divided, 
like a striped stuff; and as they, in other parts, extend themselves not only 
over the body, but over the head, the thighs, the legs, and even the ears 
and the tail; so that, at a distance, this animal appears as if he were sur 
rounded with little fillets, which some person had disposed, in a regular 
manner, over every part of the body. In the females, these bands are alter- 
nate'v black and white. In the male, they are brown and yellow, but 
always of a lively and brilliant mixture, upon a short, fine, and thick hair ; 
the lustre of which still more increases the beauty of the colors. The zebra 
is, in general, less than the horse, and larger than the ass; and, although 
it has often been compared to those two animals, and called the wild horse 
and the striped ass, it is a copy neither of the one nor the other; and might 
rather be called their model, if al! was not equally original in nature, and 
if every species had not an equal right to creation. 
The zebra is not the animal the ancients have indicated under the name 
onagra. There exists in the Levant, the eastern parts of Asia, and in the 
northern parts of Africa, a beautiful race of asses, who, like the finest horses, 
are natives of Arabia. This race differs from the common, by the size of 
the body, the slenderness of the legs, and the lustre of the hair. They are 
of a uniform, but commonly of a fine mouse color, with a black cross upon 
the back and the shoulders; and sometimes they are of a bright gray color, 
with a flaxen cross. The zebra is also of a different climate from the 
onagra, and is only to be met with in the most eastern and the most south- 
ern parts of Africa, from Ethiopia to the Cape of Good Hope, and thence to 
Congo. It exists neither in Europe, Asia, nor America, nor even in all the 
northern parts of Africa. Those which some travellers tell us they have 
seen at the Brazils, have been transported thither from Africa; those which 
others are recounted to have seen in Persia, and in Turkey, have been 
brought from Ethiopia; and, in short, those that we have seen in Europe 
are almost all from the Cape of Good Hope. This point of Africa is 
their true climate, their native country, and where the Dutch have ein- 
ployed all their care to subject them and to render them tame, without 
having been hitherto able to succeed. That which has served for the 
subject of our description, was very wild when he arrived at the royal 
menagerie in France; and he was never entirely tamed. Nevertheless, 
he was broken for the saddle; but there were precautions necessary ; two 
men held the bridle, while a third was upon him. His mouth is very 
hard; his ears so sensible, that he winces whenever any person goes to 
touch them. He is restive, like a vicious horse, and obstinate as a mule; 
but, perhaps, the wild horse and the onagra are not less intractable; and 
there js reason to believe, that ifthe zebra was accustomed to obedience 
. 
