THE WILD ASS 
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the former. The ears are longer than the horse’s, but 
shorter than the ass’s. The tail resembles that of an ass, 
and only has hair at its lower end. The mane too, which 
is black and thin, is like that of the ass, in that it is short 
(about four inches long), and stands stiff and upright. It 
is continued along the spine in a black line, and finally 
terminates in the tail. On the back the animal is a 
reddish-brown colour, which gradually passes over into 
white down the ribs and sides ; underneath it is white. 
The nose is grey ; the ears dark, but white on the inside ; 
the legs gradually shade off to white down by the hoofs. 
The hoofs are strong, though not quite hard, and are 
A WOUNDED KHULAN (WILD ASS) 
as large as the horse’s. The eyes are brown, with a 
big bfack pupil, of the same shape and appearance as 
in the horse and domestic ass. The chest is broad and 
strongly developed, so as to accommodate a pair of 
powerful lungs. The neck too is massive and muscular. 
But the muscles of the hind legs are especially thick 
and sinewy, well adapted for developing great speed. 
The nostrils are very much larger than the horse s. 
When the wounded khulan sniffed after his companions 
and snorted, and also when he uttered his harsh scream 
or neigh, his nostrils expanded into two large apeitures, 
surrounded by taut sinewy muscles, and projected almost 
straight out before him. In short, the wild ass’s nostrils 
are constructed on a similar scale to his lungs, the whole 
