CHAPTER XX. 



ZEBEAS. 



These beautifully marked and symmetrically shaped animals be- 

 long to tlie same family as the horse and the ass. In natural 

 history it is known as the Equidce. The quadrupeds grouped under 

 this class are subdivided into two genera, namely, equus and asinus, 

 and by some the zebras are classified under the latter heading. 

 They are completely separated, however, from the other members 

 of their family by being geographically confined in their habi- 

 tation to the southern parts of Africa. 



There are three species of zebras ; the animal known as the 

 true zebra (Equus zebra), the quagga (Equus quagga), and 

 Burchell's zebra (Equus BurchelU). 



The true zebra (Equus zebra) is by far the most conspicuously 

 beautiful animal of the family. It is larger than a domestic 

 donkey, for it stands over four feet high at tbe withers, and 

 exceeds eight feet in extreme length. It is a very graceful 

 creature, for its limbs are slender, and terminated with narrow 

 hoofs; the head is light, and the ears rather long and widely 

 opened. 



The ground colour of this animal's coat is pure white, and it is 

 marked all over with glossy jet-black stripes, except immediately 

 under the belly. These stripes, are in some places narrow, in 

 others wide, and on the neck and legs are closer together than on 

 the body. The bushy upright mane has the stripes of the neck 

 continued through it, and its hair is, therefore, alternately checked 



black and white. 



The zebra can be readily distinguished from the quagga and 

 Burchell's zebra, for it is the most completely striped of the 



