THE HORSE. 
V 
HISTORY. 
The Ass of Africa, it has been said, seems to differ in certain characters from the Ass of the saline deserts of Asia. It is not 
perfectly known whether he yet exists in the wild state in this continent; but he has been found in a state of subjugation as far as 
travellers have yet penetrated to the north of the line. At length, however, he gives place to another creature of the same tribe, 
but more graceful in form, more beautiful in colour, not inferior to the Wild Ass in swiftness, and still less subject to the influence 
of man. 
The Zebra, the Wild Paard of the colonists of the Cape, inhabits the mountains of Southern Africa, extending into the in¬ 
terior to an unknown distance. He resembles the Ass in general form, hut he is more compact, graceful, and symmetrical. He 
is about four feet in height at the shoulder ; his limbs are delicate, and his head and hoofs finely formed. The ground colour of 
his fur is white, but the whole of his body, head, and limbs, is covered with bright black or brownish-black bands, placed wider or 
closer together; those on the upper part of the body connected with the dorsal line; those on the face terminating in the bay- 
coloured nose. His ears are long and moveable, and adorned with two black hands; his tail is dark, and tufted at the extremity; 
his mane is erect and bushy, and adorned with alternate bands of black and white. This wild and beautiful creature inhabits the 
mountains, but descends from time to time into the plains, cheering the desert with his graceful motions. Like all the Equine 
tribe, he is gregarious, and migrates from place to place in troops. He differs in this from the Ass, that he does not tamely resign 
his freedom. Like other wild animals, indeed, he may be reduced to a certain degree of subjection; but he never resigns his 
natural indocility, nor shows that resignation to the power of man which constitutes domestication. We must believe, then, that 
this gay and beautiful Ass is not destined to administer to the uses and enjoyments of society, by submitting himself to human 
control. He breeds with the mare, and the hybrid progeny resembles the Mule. 
The Quagga is taller than the Zebra, his height at the withers being about four feet and a half. His body is more round 
than that of the Zebra; his limbs are robust; and his arching neck is surrounded by a long upright mane streaked with alternate 
bands of brown and white. His ears, of moderate length, are marked with two irregular bands, and he possesses a tail like that 
of the Horse, and covered with long and flowing hairs. The colour of the head, the neck, and the upper part of the body, is a 
reddish-brown, marked with dark brown hands. The streaks become fainter until they are lost in the shoulder; a broad dark 
line extends along the back; the brown colour of the back becomes gradually more pale towards the lower extremities; the belly, 
legs, and tail are white. 
This elegant little Horse inhabits the plains of Southern Africa, within the same geographical limits as the Zebra, and ex¬ 
tends to an unknown distance into the interior. He is found within the territories of the Cape, but the use of fire-arms has 
thinned his numbers, and driven him beyond the limits of the settlers. He is found in the interior in countless herds, spreading 
over all the plains where water and herbage can be found. He is hunted for his flesh by all the African tribes. 
The Quagga is of a greatly more gentle and pliant temper than the Zebra, and he has sometimes been tamed for the purposes 
of draught by the Dutch inhabitants of the Cape. Sparrman saw one driven through the streets of Cape-Town, in a team with 
five horses. Another, which had been taken young, was so tame that it came to be caressed when approached. Many years ago, 
Mr Griffith informs us, a pair used to be seen at Hyde Park, in the gay season, attached to a curricle, and as subservient to the 
rein as well-trained horses. Thus this beautiful and agile creature is capable of domestication, and might doubtless be applied to 
all the purposes for which the Horse is used, in the wild and arid regions which he inhabits. Were not Africa peopled by human 
beings seemingly in the infancy of intellect, we might wonder that this the native horse of Southern Africa had not long ere now 
been subjected to domestication. It is more surprising that the European inhabitants of the Cape Colony should have omitted to 
subdue an animal so easy to be obtained. These lethargic Colonists, however, have manifested equal indifference to the other 
means by which their intercourse with one another might be facilitated. They have not introduced the Camel, so well adapted 
to the long journeyings of a sandy country; nor the Mule, which would doubtless surpass the Ox for the transporting of mer¬ 
chandise. 
The Striped Quagga, the Bonti Quagga of the Cape colonists, was long mistaken for the Zebra, until he was distinguished 
from it by Burchell, from whom it has been termed Equus Burchellii. He is about the height of the Common Quagga, but less 
robust in his proportions. He has the ears and tail of the Horse; and his arching neck is surmounted by an upright mane, about 
five inches in length, streaked with alternate bands of black and white. The muzzle is black; the general colour of the head, 
neck, and body is a sienna-brown, variously streaked with black and deep brown bands; the belly, legs, and tail are of a pure 
white. 
This creature is found within the territories of the Cape, but chiefly beyond the Garrep river, where it is seen in immense 
herds, stretching over boundless plains. Its habits and temperament seem to resemble those of the Common Quagga. 
Ihe Quaggas and Zebras that people the wild regions of Southern Africa confound the imagination by their numbers. 
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