THE KIANG, OR WILD ASS. 



593 



importance, the parents being selected as carefully as those of the horse itself. The chief draw- 

 back in the rearing of this animal is that it is unproductive, and is incapable of continuing its 

 species, so that there can be no definite breed of Mules, as of horses and asses. 



The Wild Asses are all celebrated for their extreme fleetness and sureness of foot, and 

 among them the Dziggetai, Khue, or Koulan deserves especial mention. 



This animal is so wonderfully swift that it cannot be overtaken even by a fleet Arabian 

 horse, and if it can get upon hilly or rocky ground, it bids defiance to all wingless enemies. 

 Not even the greyhound can follow it with any hope of success when it once leaves level 

 ground. This great speed renders it a favorite object of chase with the natives of the countries 



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DZIGGETAI, OR KOVLA.1X. -Annus onager. 



which it inhabits ; and whether in Persia or India, it is held to be the noblest of game. Some- 

 times the falcon is trained to aid in the chase of the "Wild Ass, but the usual method of 

 securing this animal is to drive it towards rocky ground, and to kill it with a rifle bullet as it 

 stands in fancied security upon some lofty crag. 



It lives in troops, descending to the plains during the winter months, and returning to the 

 cooler hills as soon as the summer begins to be unpleasantly warm. It is very common in 

 Mesopotamia, and is always a most shy and wary, as well as swift animal. Each troop is 

 under the command of a leader, who sways his siibjects with unlimited authority, and takes 

 upon himself to make all needful arrangements for their welfare. 



The honor of success is not the only motive which urges the hunters to pursue the 

 Dziggetai, for: its .flesh is remarkably excellent, and is universally thought to be one of the 

 greatest dainties. The localities inhabited by this animal are Mesopotamia, Persia, the shores 

 of the Indus, and the Punjab. The color of this animal is pale reddish -brown in the summer, 

 fading into a gray-brown in the winter, and marked with a black stripe along the spine, 

 becoming wider upon the middle of the back.. 



Another species of Wild Ass is the Kiang, or Wild Ass of Thibet, sometimes, but 

 erroneously, called the Wild Horse of Thibet, because its noise resembles the neighing of that 

 animal rather than the braying of the ass. 



