THE HORSES— ASSES. 



415 



casionally secure one of them as a trophy of his 

 might. Man is a more dangerous foe to them. The 

 wandering native shepherds are passionately fond 

 of hunting the Koulan — the more so as the chase 

 calls all of the hunter's ability into play. In zoo- 

 logical gardens the Koulan is as yet a rarity, though 

 it has been repeatedly introduced within the last 

 twenty years, and has frequently bred in captivity, 

 Paris alone having a record of the birth of sixteen 

 young. It also has been successfully crossed with 

 the -Ass, the Quagga, the Zebra and recently also 

 with the Horse. 



The Onager an Another wild Horse of Asia, per- 

 Asiatic Wild haps in reality being but one and 

 Horae. the same animal with the Koulan, is 



the Onager of the ancients, which is also repeatedly 

 mentioned in the Bible. According to Sclater's com- 

 parisons of living wild Horses, it is more than prob- 



exceedingly smooth and delicate. The mane stands 

 erect and consists of soft, woolly hair about four 

 inches long; the tuft on the tail measures from 

 seven to twelve inches. The mode of life of the 

 Onager resembles that of the Koulan. A stallion 

 is the leader of each herd, the other members of 

 which are mares and foals of both sexes. In point 

 of activity the Onager is not surpassed by the Dzig- 

 getai. 



The perceptive senses of the Onager, especially 

 those of hearing, sight and smell, are so well devel- 

 oped that it is impossible to surprise it in the open 

 plain. Its habits being very frugal, it comes to drink, 

 at the most, every other day, and one who thinks to 

 surprise it while drinking, therefore usually lies in 

 wait for it in vain. Plants containing salt are its 

 preferred food, and those it likes next best are the 

 bitter, juicy kinds, such as the dandelion, the flag. 



THE 01TA6EB. A wild Ass of central Asia, which is larger th; 



endurance, and is found throughout an extensive range in central Asia. 



able that the wild Ass of the deserts of India does 

 not differ from the Onager. Thus it would range 

 from Syria, across Arabia, Persia and Baluchistan to 

 India. 



The Onager (Equus [Asinus] onager) is perceptibly 

 smaller than the Dziggetai, although it is taller and 

 possessed of finer limbs than the common Ass. 

 The head is proportionately longer and larger than 

 the Koulan's; the fleshy lips are thickly covered with 

 stiff, bristly hair to their very margins; the ears are 

 tolerably long, though shorter than those of the Ass. 

 The prevailing color is a beautiful white with a sil- 

 very lustre, merging into a pale sorrel tint on the 

 upper part of the head, the sides of the neck and 

 body and the hips. On the side of the withers a 

 lyhite stripe of a hand's breadth runs down; a sec- 

 ond stripe runs along the backbone and down the 

 back of the hind legs; in its centre is a smaller 

 brown stripe. The hair is softer and silkier than 

 that of the Horse. The winter hair may be com- 

 pared with Camel's wool, while the summer hair is 



It has a short, stiff mane, has great speed and 



an the domestic species. 

 {Equus onager.) 



and kindred vegetation. It does not disdain varie- 

 ties of clover and lucerne or any kinds of cereals. 

 On the other hand it dislikes all aromatic, balsamic 

 plants,, marsh herbs, buttercups and prickly plants, 

 including the thistle. It is more partial to brackish 

 or salty water than to fresh, but the liquid must be 

 clear; it never drinks muddy or turbid water. 

 Varieties and CAar-The progenitors of our Ass {Equus 

 acteristics of \_Asmus'\ asinus) live in Africa, repre- 

 the Ass. sented by two sub-species. The first 

 of these, the Ass of the Plains (^Equinus asinus afri- 

 canus) resembles its tamed offspring in Egypt in 

 physical proportions and appearance, while its de- 

 meanor and habits recall its wild Asiatic kinsman. 

 It is large, slender and of pleasing contour, brownish- 

 yellow colored, lighter on the under surface, with a 

 distinct stripe on the back crossed by another at the 

 shoulders,' and several more or less well-defined 

 transverse stripes on the outer surface df the lower 

 limbs. The mane is erect and short, the tail-tuft 

 long and stout. 



