an nil 

 can 



7 o Great and Small Game of Africa 



al. He says, "Those who have seen donkeys in their civilised state 

 have no conception of the beauty of the wild and original animal. . . . 

 In its native desert it is the perfection of activity and courage ; there is a 

 high-bred tone in the deportment, a high-actioned gait, when it trots freely 

 over the rocks and sand with the speed of the horse. When it gallops 

 over the boundless desert, no animal is more difficult to approach, and 

 although they are frequently captured by the Arabs, those taken are 

 invariably the foals, which are ridden down by fast dromedaries while the 

 mothers escape." 



Sir Samuel Baker found the spoor of these animals on the margin of 

 the Atbara River— now so well known. Their drinking time was at night 

 (as is the case with the zebras), after which they betook themselves far 

 into the desert. 



These animals are usually found in excellent condition, despite the 

 desert nature of their surroundings. Their flesh is eaten by the Arabs of 

 the Soudan. They are ordinarily met with in twos and threes, or small 

 herds. The bray of this African wild ass is indistinguishable from that ot 

 its domesticated cousin, and it may be looked upon as the ancestor of that 

 now inferior race. H. A. Bryden. 



The Somali Wild Ass (Equus asinus somalicus) 

 Somali Name, Duher Dibhuded 

 This animal is described in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1884, 

 p. 540, as follows : " The Somali ass differs from that of the Nubian Desert 

 in its generally paler and more grayish colour, in the entire absence of the 

 cross stripe over the shoulders, in the very slight indication of the dorsal 

 line, and in the numerous black markings on both front and hind legs." ' 



1 This wild ass was described from a specimen skin procured by Mr. E. Lorl Phillips. Mr. Lort 



Ihe -li.Mllde 



speaks of the animal as "a superb creature, 14 



.ne greatly of those in the variety of Burchcll's zebra known as chapm 



