256 MOSTLY MAMMALS 
difference is to be found in the broader dark stripes (of which 
there seem to be more in a given space), and a corresponding 
decrease in the width of the intervening light intervals. The 
stripes also seem to extend farther back on the body. 
But there is also a difference between quaggas of the type 
of the one photographed by York and those figured by the 
early writers, as exemplified by the plate in Colonel Hamilton 
Smith’s volume on horses in the “ Naturalists’ Library.” In 
the specimen there represented, which not improbably came 
from Cape Colony, the head, neck, and forequarters are 
marked by narrow black stripes on a chestnut ground. 
The markings are, indeed, as Dr. von Lorenz remarks, just 
the reverse of those of the Vienna specimen; the British 
Museum example and the one figured by York being in 
some degree intermediate between these two extreme types. 
With some hesitation, Dr. von Lorenz suggests that there 
may have been local races of the quagga, as there are of 
Burchell’s zebra. 
Even in the days of its abundance the quagga (which, 
by the way, takes its name from its cry) had a comparatively 
limited distribution, ranging from the Cape Colony up the 
eastern side of Africa as far as the Vaal River, beyond 
which it appears to have been unknown. In this respect 
it closely resembled the white-tailed gnu, which, however, 
is known to have crossed that river in one district. 
Curiously enough, the two species lived in close comradeship, 
and in the old days their vast herds formed a striking 
feature in the landscape of the open plains of the Orange 
River Colony. Both have now disappeared from the face 
of the country, for the white-tailed gnu, if, indeed, any are 
now left, only exists in a semi-domesticated state on a 
few farms. 
Owing to its rank flavour, and especially its yellow fat, 
