194 
THE STORY OF THE ZEBRA . 
but unsatisfactory trophies, it seems a pity that so many are killed for the 
mere sake of sport. When standing on sandy ground in full moonlight, a 
zebra harmonizes so exactly with the color of its surroundings as to be 
quite invisible at a short distance. 
It is very wild and suspicious, carefully placing sentinels, to look out 
for danger. Notwithstanding these precautions, several zebras have been 
taken alive, and some, in spite of their vicious habits, have been trained 
to draw a carriage. In all probability it might be domesticated like the 
ass, as the black cross on the back and shoulders of the latter animal prove 
the affinity between them. In the Transvaal there are many teams made up 
partly of zebras and partly of mules. 
The quagga, so far as color is concerned, forms a connecting link be¬ 
tween the zebras and the asses; but in its short ears, and the extent to which 
the tail is haired, approximates to the horse. In height it stands about the 
same as the true zebra; in color the upper parts are of a light reddish-brown, 
with the head, neck and front half of the body marked with irregular choco¬ 
late-brown stripes, gradually becoming fainter, until they are quite lost on 
the hind-quarters. There is a dark stripe running down the back on to the 
upper part of the tail; but the rest of the tail, together with the under-parts, 
the inner sides of the thighs, and the legs, are white. 
Its actual habitat may be precisely defined as within Cape Colony, the 
Orange Free State, and Griqualand West. I do not find that it ever ex¬ 
tended to Namaqualand and the Kalaharr Desert to the west, or beyond 
the Kei River, the ancient eastern limit of the Cape Colony to the east. 
