CHAPTER VI. 



THE ZEBRAS. 



THE ZEBRAS OR TIGER-HORSES — THE QUAGGA — THE DAUW, OR BURCHELL'S ZEBRA — HARRIS'S 

 DESCRIPTION OF IT — THE ZEBRA PROPER— HUNTING THE ZEBRA — CROSS-BREEDS — THE MULE — 

 THE HINNY — INSTANCES OF THEIR FERTILITY — DARWINISM. 



THE three species which we are now about to describe are 

 natives of Africa. They equal the Asiatic Wild Asses in speed 

 and beauty of form, but far surpass them in richness of color 

 and boldness of marking. As they are all distinguished more or less by 

 tiger-like stripes, they have been formed by some writers into a genus 

 named Hippotigris, or " Tiger-horse." The Roman emperor Caracalla, 

 in the year 211 A. D., is described as slay^ig with his own hand, in the 

 circus, an elephant, a rhinoceros, and a tiger-horse. 



The Zebras, or Tiger-horses, are all characterized by a compact 

 body, powerful neck, a head intermediate between that of the horse and 

 the ass, rather long ears, an upright mane, which is not so thick as that 

 of the horse, and a tail with long hair at the end. They all have the coat 

 marked with bright colored stripes. The south of Africa is their birth- 

 place, although one species probably is found north of the equator. 



THE QUAGGA. 



The QUAGGA, Equus Quagga (Plate XXXIII), resembles the horse 

 more than the ass in figure. The body is well made, the head graceful 

 and moderate in size, the ears short, the legs powerful. A short mane 

 rises along the whole neck, the tail is covered with hair from the root, 

 but the hairs are much shorter than in the horse. The ground color of 

 the head, back, and loins is brown, the belly and hairs of the tail white. 

 Grayish-white stripes appear on the head, neck, and shoulders. On the 

 face these marks are close together, and run from the forehead to the 

 muzzle ; on the shoulders they run transversely, and are placed wider 



