734 



THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



extremely delicate. The slightest noise or motion, no less than the appearance of any 

 object that is unfamiliar, at once rivets their gaze, and causes them to stop and listen 

 with the utmost attention ; any taint in the air equally attracting their olfactory 

 organs. 



Instinct having taught these beautiful animals that in union consists their strength, 

 they combine in a compact body when menaced by an attack, either from man or 

 beast; and, if overtaken by the foe, they unite for mutual defence, with their heads 

 together in a close circular band, presenting their heels to the enemy, and dealing out 

 kicks in equal force and abundance. Beset on all sides, or partially crippled, they 

 rear on their hinder legs, fly at their adversary with jaws distended, and use both 

 teeth and heels with the greatest freedom." 



The Gnu and the common quagga, delighting in the same situation, not unfrequently 

 herd together ; but Burchell's Zebra is seldom seen unaccompanied by troops of the 

 brindled Gnu, an animal differing very materially from its brothers of the same genus, 

 from which, though scarcely less ungainly, it is readily distinguishable at a great dis- 

 tance by its black mane and tail, more elevated withers, and clumsier action. 



Whilst the douw and the quagga roam over the plains, the zebra inhabits mountain- 

 ous regions only. The beauty of its light symmetrical form is enhanced by the narrow 

 black bands with which the whole of the white-colored body is covered. Buffon and 

 Daubenton wished to see this elegant creature acclimatized in Europe, which would 

 procure us a beast of burden stronger than the ass, and more beautiful in its naked- 

 ness than the horse, even when adorned with the richest trappings. A king of Portu- 

 gal used frequently to drive about with four zebras ; and, about the year 1761, two of 

 these animals that were kept in the park of Versailles had been so far tamed as to allow 

 themselves to be mounted. In spite of the proverbial obstinacy of the zebra, there 

 are thus no insuperable obstacles to its domestication, and a course of training, contin- 

 ued through several generations, would most likely subdue its reluctant nature as com- 

 pletely as that of the original wild horse and ass. The zebra is supposed to be the 

 real hippotigris, or tiger-horse of the ancients ; and this is the more probable, as he ranges 

 much farther to the north than the quagga or the douw, and approaches the regions of 

 Africa comprised within the Roman empire. Historians inform us that in the year 202 

 after Christ, Plautius, a governor or prefect of Egypt sent several centurions to the 

 island of the Erythraean Sea to fetch horses which "looked like tigers." The zebra 

 seeks the wildest and most secluded spots, so that it is extremely difficult of approach. 

 The herds graze on the steep hill-side, with a sentinel posted on some adjacent crag 

 ready to sound the alarm in case of any suspicious approach to their feeding quarters ; 

 and no sooner is the alarm given than away they scamper with pricked ears, and 

 whisking their ears aloft, to places where few, if any, would venture to pursue them. 



We have styled the hippopotamus and the rhinoceros *' gigantic hogs," and such 

 they are to all seeming. But in Southern Africa the real hog itself reaches a size and 

 strength, of which we, who know only his tame, lazy kindred, can hardly form a con- 

 ception. Thus Andersson incidentally mentions these animals. " Wild boars," he 

 says, " were rather numerous, and afforded us excellent coursing. The speed of these 

 animals is surprisingly great. On open ground, when fairly afoot, I found the dogs 

 no match for them. They fight desperately; and I have seen wild boars individually 



