856 WILD ANIMALS. 



plains, even in tlie north of Natal, but now lias either been shot 

 out or driven back by the hunters. This is the quagga par excel- 

 lence of South African sportsmen, by whom it is killed both for 

 its skin, which is now extremely valuable, and also for its meat, 

 which is one of the most palatable morsels you can give to your 

 native servants ; but there is a sort of smell about it, which, with 

 its dark colour and yellow fat, make it anything but tempting to 

 most white men. These animals are generally found, at least in 

 the bush, in small parties of from eight to ten, frequently in 

 company with blue wildebeests. The largest troop I ever saw," 

 remarks Mr. Buckley, "contained probably about forty individuals." 

 Harris, describing this species, states that it supplants the quagga 

 to the north of the Orange river, as does the koodoo, its congener 

 the gnoo, " and seldom congregating in herds of fewer than eighty 

 or a hundred, it abounds to a great extent in all the districts 

 included between that noble stream and the southern tropic. 

 Occupying the same regions, and delighting in the same pastures 

 as the brindled gnoo, rarely is it to be seen unless in the com- 

 panionship of that fantastic animal, whose presence would appear 

 to be almost indispensable to its happiness. It is singular enough 

 that the members of two families so perfectly foreign to each 

 other, should display so great a predilection for each other's 

 society, uniformly intermixing as they do, and herding together 

 in bonds of the closest friendship. Fierce, strong, fleet, and 

 surpassingly beautiful, there is, perhaps, no quadruped in the 

 creation, not even excepting the mountain zebra, more splendidly 

 attired, or presenting a picture of more singularly attractive 

 beauty, than this free-born of the desert. It would be difficult 

 to convey to the uninitiated, a suitable idea of the sparkling effect 

 produced by their vivid and strikingly contrasted colours, when 

 seen ' pawing in the valley ' in all the pride of conscious liberty, or 

 flying in compact columns before the equestrian foe." 



" The voice of this free-born of the desert has no analogy to 

 the discordant braying of the ass, but consists of a shrill, abrupt 

 neigh, which may be likened to the barking of a dog, as heard by 

 a passer-by from the interior of a house. The senses of sight, 

 hearing, and smell are extremely delicate. The slightest noise 



