352 WILD ANIMALS. 



of the great size of the head and neck they look much larger 

 than they really are; the peculiar noise they make, " ouag-ga, 

 ouag-ga," the last syllable very much prolonged, has caused the 

 natives in the interior of Africa to call them quaggas. 



This animal is slightly larger than the true zebra, for it stands 

 about six inches higher and longer. At first sight it conveys 

 the impression of being a cross between the wild ass and the 

 zebra, for the characteristic stripes of the latter animal are only 

 partially represented ; the quagga being decorated merely upon the 

 hind-quarters, and upon the face, neck, and fore-parts of the 

 body. The bands are not so deep in colour as those of the 

 zebra, but are more of a darkish brown than a black, and become 

 .fainter and more irregular as they run backwards. The upper 

 parts of the body are brown, fading away to whitish-grey below 

 and behind, and the clean and sinewy shaped legs are light 

 coloured. The long flowing tail is distinctly horse-like, and is 

 white. The hoofs are also considerably broader than in the 

 zebra. 



Sir W. 0. Harris, in his " Portraits of the Wild Animals of 

 Southern Africa," describes all the zebras in his graphic manner 

 as he saw them in their native country. He says : " The geo- 

 graphical range of this species of the quagga does not appear to 

 extend to the northward of the river Vaal. The animal was 

 formerly extremely common within • the colony, but vanishing 

 before the strides of civilization, is now to be found in very 

 limited numbers, and on the borders only. Beyond, on those 

 solitary plains which are completely taken possession of by wild 

 beasts, and may with strict propriety be termed the domain of 

 savage nature, it occurs in interminable herds, and although 

 never intermixing with its own more elegant congeners, is almost 

 invariably to be found ranging with the white-tailed gnu, and 

 with the ostrich, for the society of which bird especially it evinces 

 the most singular predilection. Moving slowly across the profile 

 of the ocean-hke horizon, uttering a shrill barking neigh, of 

 which its name forms a correct imitation, long files of quaggas 

 continually remind the early traveller of a rival caravan upon 

 its march. Throughout the Scriptures, the inspired poets make. 



