MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 431 
The above has been conclusively disproved by H. H. the Thakor of Morvi, 
whose State, which is in Kathiawar, is situated close to the Runn of Kutch, 
as the anager has been ridden down and secured on several occasions during a 
period of three years, when riding them down was one of His Highness’s 
favourite amusements, undertaken chiefly to disprove the exaggerated opinion 
commonly held as regards their speed and endurance. 
On one occasion a band of eight wild donkeys were ridden down and secured 
on the east side of the Runn by a party of five riders, or, to be more exact, by 
a party of three, as the riding was really done by H. H. the Thakor Sahib and 
two of his riding boys. The riders averaged about 9 stones in weight, rode 
the same horses from start to finish, and, kept together throughout the whole 
of the chase. 
As the above may not be considered a case of running them down by a 
single horseman, perhaps the following instance may sutlice, wiz., that on 
another occasion the Thakor Sahib and hisgtwo riding boys separated ; the 
former succeeded in riding an onager down single-handed, and without change 
of mount, while the two boys secured another, 
The horses used in these rides were Walers, Arabs and country-breds, and 
in one ride where a wild donkey was secured, a 13:3 Arab pony was used. The 
fact may perhaps interest people that. the country-breds used were ordinary 
Kathiawar cobs about 14°1, and in the case of the Walers and Arabs used, no 
special selection was made of mounts, neither were the animals in special con- 
dition for the rides. The above-mentioned facts will somewhat tend to discount 
the exaggerated ideas held concerning the speed and endurance of the onager. 
The rides which ended in captures usually lasted about three hours ; speed 
varied from a walk to a spurting gallop ; the going was execrably bad, being 
chiefly ground covered at high tide by the sea, and consisted for the most part 
of mud. in which the horses sank fetlock deep, necessitating the greater por- 
tion of the chase being done at a walk. The distances covered in the different 
runs varied from twenty to twenty-five miles ;no horse ever died during a 
chase or from the after effects. 
Although the onager’s speed is greater than that of a tame donkey, an ordi- 
nary 14:2 Arab can gallop them to a standstill, and the fact of the runs being 
so long was due more to the going than to any special endurance on the part 
of the wild asses. Practically, as regards endurance, they are as enduring as a 
horse in non-galloping condition, though the asses when caught, could hardly 
be called in galloping condition either. 
One of the most striking points in connection with these rides is the endu- 
‘rance shown by the horses used in capturing the wild asses; in fact, more 
wonderful than the endurance of the asses who were on the ground they live 
on, whereas neither food not water could be obtained for the horses, riders 
even having to carry their own drinking water. On one occasion horses were 
out without food or water from 7 a.m. one morning to 4 a.m, the next, 
