THE DOMESTICATION OF WILD ANIMALS 43 
its kind that has been domesticated in modern times in its 
native land. This animal was captured out of a herd of 
twenty, when apparently five or six years of age; and 
when the account was sent home had already become 
perfectly tame and docile. It was trained to draw a 
waggon for carrying agricultural produce, and also a brake 
for passengers. As Dr. Trouessart observes, this individual 
renders the domestication of the African elephant practically 
an accomplished fact. 
There remains the question of breeding in captivity ; but 
British experiences in Burma indicate that this is merely 
a matter of expense in the case of the Asiatic species. 
And it is worth considering whether domestication is not 
the only chance of saving the African elephant from 
ultimate extermination. 
Perhaps even more has been written of late years with 
regard to the possibility of domesticating zebras than has 
been devoted to the case of the elephant. The general 
opinion seems to be that individuals caught wild and trained 
to harness are too “soft” to be of any great permanent 
value for draught purposes, and that either the stamina 
and staying powers of these animals will have to be im- 
proved by judicious breeding in captivity, or that mules 
between zebras and ponies will be found more efficacious 
for the needs of African transport. In either event it will 
be essential to domesticate a large stock of zebras, as other- 
wise in the course of a few years these handsome animals 
might become so scarce as to be practically unobtainable. 
Whether, however, “ zebroids,” as it is proposed to call the 
hybrids, will maintain the immunity against tsetse attack 
characteristic of pure-bred zebras, remains to be proved. 
There is also the question as to the fertility or otherwise of 
these hybrids, and the consideration that if they produced 
