ZEBRAS. 351 



an infuriated hygena, and flung his heels wildly about, as if desirous 



of demolishing innumerable keepers' heads. Mr. Rarey consumed 



four hours in giving the creature its first lesson of subordination 



to kindly meant authority ; and he afterwards stated that it gave 



him more trouble and anxiety than would four hundred horses. 



Once fairly conquered, the zebra walked, trotted, and ambled in 



the ring as if trained from his infancy ; and Mr. Rarey further 



gratified his admiring audience by — -the first time in the world, 



perhaps — riding a zebra. Naturalists have from the time of 



Aristotle to Cuvier, pronounced the zebra untamable; yet Mr. 



Rarey has put the learned philosophers in science to shame, 



vindicating the power of kindness, the spell through which man 



should have dominion over the beasts of the field, the law that 



was ordained in the very beginning of time." 



The Jardin des Plantes, in Paris, owned a female zebra that 

 was tamed and was such an exceedingly gentle animal, that she 

 could have been ridden with perfect safety, which proves that 

 it is not safe to set down a whole race of quadrupeds as impla- 

 cable because a few specimens show a tendency to resent any 

 interference with them by men. 



The wild horse and the ass are almost as savage as the zebra, 

 but under proper treatment, soon develop gentle dispositions ; 

 whether the zebra or his descendants, when born in captivity, 

 would after a generation or two lose the vicious and untractable 

 qualities exhibited by the wild animal, can only be ascertained 

 by making the experiment. If so, there is no reason why a race 

 of these beautiful and graceful creatures should not be domesti- 

 cated and utilized, for in some respects they would have the 

 advantage over their congener, the donkey, whose servitude has 

 unfortunately been relegated in every country where it is em- 

 ployed, to a class conspicuous in society for the brutal treatment 

 of not only the animals, but the poor human beings who have 

 to acknowledge their authority, and as a consequence the race 

 of the " maligned moke " has become deteriorated in appearance 

 and intelligence. 



The Quagga {Equus quagga) is also to be found only in South 

 Africa. Speaking of this species, Holub says that on account 



