THE MULE AND THE HINNY. 183 



the company; and accordingly, he makes his choice by going 

 round, and touching one of the prettiest with his head, to 

 the great amusement of the company." 

 TheMuleand The Mule and the Hinny, are the oflF-spring 

 the Hinny. of the ass and the horse and combine to some 

 extent the qualities of both. The mule has the sure-footed- 

 ness of the ass, and the size and appearance of the horse. 

 His history dates back to classical and Biblical times, and 

 mention is made of him both in the Iliad and in the Bible. 

 In the East he is still trained to usefiil service, and in Eng- 

 land he is used in tramways and road cars. .The Spanish 

 mules are trained to imderstand the calls of their driver who 

 directs their course by shouting from the box. 



The Zebra. The Zebra resembles the horse in shape, and 

 in size stands half way between the horse and the ass. 

 He belongs to Central Africa, and hitherto has resisted all 

 attempts to tame him for practical use. He is a beautiful 

 animal, handsomely marked with black and white stripes 

 all over the body, and black and white rings round the legs. 

 Burchell's Zebra which belongs to the Cape of Good Hope, 

 is similar, but has white legs. The Quagga of Southern Africa 

 has a brown coat striped with black, a white waistcoat, and 

 white stockings. Zebras have been half tamed, when kept in 

 menageries, but lack the instinctive docility of the horse. 



Tie Tapir. The next family we have to deal with is the 

 family of the Tapirida, in which there are two genera and 

 six species. The Tapir is a large and powerful animal 

 standing from five to six feet in height and inhabiting the 

 warmer regions of South America. It is nocturnal in its 

 habits and feeds on water-melons, gourds, and other fruits 

 and vegetables. It frequents the water and can remain below 

 the surface for a long time. Its hide is very thick and its 

 senses of sight, hearing, and smell very acute. Its most 

 characteristic feature is as hort mobile probos-cis which enables 

 it to seize hold of boughs and fruits when in search of food. 



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