50 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
perfectly docile captured Zebras,; and I have had in my pos- 
session a filly (taken when quite young in the Transvaal) which 
from the first was as docile, tractable, and trustworthy as any 
pony that was ever foaled. I have refrained from handling 
Matopo for obvious reasons, yet there is never any difficulty in 
managing him, unless when he is herding mares, or unusually 
excited. When in a field with mares he is unapproachable, for, 
regardless of consequences, he attacks all who venture into his 
vicinity. Galloping up open-mouthed, uttering his characteristic 
call, he endeavours to seize intruders by the legs. On one 
occasion, in a small paddock, he guarded a dozen mares so well, . 
that it took four of us nearly two hours to drive them into their 
boxes. He is, however, easily upset by unusual noises, and there 
is nothing that drives him into a state of frenzy so readily as 
carpet-beating, or that cows him so effectually as a coil of rope. 
I have often wondered if the rhythmic beating of carpets 
reminds him of the day when in far-off Africa he lost his 
freedom; of the time when Boers entangled his limbs to music 
made by Zulus beating their shields with their assegais. 
The more characteristic stripes of Matopo are seen in figs. 1 
and 2 (Pl. 1.). I have already described at some length* the plan 
of the striping in various Zebras, and hence only a short account 
of Matopo’s markings need here be given. 
Fig. 2 (Pl. I.) shows a series of pointed brow arches, some of 
which end in a frontal tuft nearly two inches in length. Continuous 
with the frontal stripes are a number of vertical stripes. These 
stripes extend to the muzzle, the dark skin of which is sparsely — 
covered with short light hairs, except above the nostrils where 
there are dark brown “nostril patches.” There is usually a 
distinet shoulder-stripe in Zebras, passing downwards from the 
withers to bifurcate about the level of the shoulder-joint. In fig. 2 
(Pl. I.) the shoulder-stripe is double, while in fig. 1 it has 
blended with a humeral stripe. Between the shoulder-stripe and 
the occipital crest there are usually twelve cervical stripes, all of 
which run up into the mane to form, with a corresponding 
number of white bundles, a series of black and white tufts. 
Lying between the two upright rows of tufts, and continuous 
with the dorsal band, is the mane proper, consisting of more or 
* ‘Veterinarian,’ November, 1897. 
