XXVII 
CONCLUSION 
363 
wild asses was in 1861, when, after a most arduous 
chase through the desert in the hottest season of the 
year, I shot a male. This was a large and beautiful 
specimen, much more like a very large zebra without 
the colouring, than a donkey. It was about 14 
hands at the withers, which were as usual low ; the 
hoofs were exceedingly large, in no way resembling 
the contracted foot of the domestic species. The 
colour was a deep cream, with a tinge of strawberry 
upon the back; a black line along the spine and 
across the withers. The eyes were beautiful, ex¬ 
ceedingly large and bright. 
I was sorry to have shot this harmless animal, 
but it had a glorious revenge. On the following 
day I was prostrated with sun fever and violent 
indigestion, having dined off asinine cotelettes from 
my new specimen of a male wild ass. From the 
dryness, toughness, flavourless and impossible 
character of the flesh, I could well imagine that this 
hardy offspring of the desert had never drunk water, 
nor had had anything to eat except wood, hot dust, 
and porphyry, and that it had existed upon this 
food for centuries. 
In 1873 the late great sheik, Hussein Khalifa, 
presented Lady Baker with a most beautiful female 
donkey, which had been captured when small, but 
had never been tamed. This pretty but desperate 
present required a number of men to introduce her 
to our yard in Berber. She was secured by two 
strong ropes around her neck, the ends of which 
were well manned upon either side to prevent her 
