THE EXTINCT QUAGGA 253 
In two instances, and apparently in two only, so far 
as the larger animals are concerned, they did, however, 
adopt this practice. The first instance is that of the 
large and handsome spiral-horned antelope now univer- 
sally known as kudu, a name which is certainly not Dutch, 
and is believed by Sir Harry Johnston to be of Hottentot 
origin, since it is unknown to the Kaffirs or other tribes 
who speak dialects of the Bantu language. The second 
case is that of the animal forming the subject of this 
article, which is now universally known as quagga, from a 
corruption of its Hottentot name quacha, pronounced by 
the natives as “quaha.” Even in this instance, however, 
the Boers appear at first to have displayed considerable 
reluctance to adopt the native name, for they originally 
called the animal wilde esel (wild ass) in the same way 
as they christened its cousin, Burchell’s zebra, wilde 
paard, or wild horse. Eventually, however, better counsels 
prevailed, and Equus quagga became known to the Cape 
Dutch by the aforesaid native name, while the wilde paard 
(whose early title still survives in Paardeberg) was 
renamed bonte quacha, or striped quagga. When, how- 
ever, the true quagga became very rare and eventually 
exterminated, the prefix bonte was dropped from the Dutch 
designation of Burchell’s zebra, which was~- henceforth 
known throughout South Africa as the quacha, or quagga, 
pure and simple. Hence much confusion, and possibly 
also a factor in the extermination of the species to which 
that title of right belonged. For as the name in question 
continued to be in common use in South Africa at the 
time the true quagga was on the point of extermination, 
it is quite probable that this may have been the reason 
why the attention of naturalists in Europe was not drawn 
to its impending fate while there was yet time. 
