THE DZHIGGTAI, OR WILD ASS,1

EXHIBITS in its natural, or wild state, an appearance very far superior, both in point of beauty and vivacity, to the horse. It is a native of Asia, living, like the rest of this genus, in a gregarious manner. It chiefly occurs in the dry and mountainous deserts of Tartary, and in the southern parts of India and Persia. It is frequently spoken of as being met with, by travellers in Africa; but the quagga, which abounds in Southern Africa, and is sometimes called the wild ass, has been no doubt confounded with this animal. The color of the wild ass is gray, or brownish yellow, with a brown dorsal stripe, and one or two bands across the shoulders.

The food of this animal consists chiefly of saline or bitter plants. It is also fond of salt or brackish water. The manners of the wild ass resemble those of the wild horse. They assemble in troops, under the conduct of a leader or sentinel, and are extremely shy and vigilant; and, like the former animals, dart off with the utmost rapidity on the sight of mankind. They have been at all times celebrated for their swiftness. Their voice resembles that of the domestic ass, but is somewhat shriller. From this animal, the domestic ass has been gradually derived.

Is, perhaps, the handsomest and most elegantly clothed of all quadrupeds. He has the shape and graces of the horse, the swiftness of the stag, and

1 Equus hemionus, DESM.

2 Equus zebra, LIN.

a striped robe of black and white alternately disposed with so much regularity and symmetry, that it seems as if nature had made use of the rule and compass to paint it. These alternate bands of black and white are so much the more singular, as they are straight, parallel, and very exactly divided, like a striped stuff; and as they, in other parts, extend themselves not only over the body, but over the head, the thighs, the legs, and even the ears and the tail; so that, at a distance, this animal appears as if he were surrounded with little fillets, which some person had disposed, in a regular manner, over every part of the body. In the females, these bands are alternately black and white. In the male, they are brown and yellow, but always of a lively and brilliant mixture, upon a short, fine, and thick hair; the lustre of which still more increases the beauty of the colors. The zebra is, in general, less than the horse, and larger than the ass; and, although it has often been compared to those two animals, and called the wild horse and the striped ass, it is a copy neither of the one nor the other; and might rather be called their model, if all was not equally original in nature, and if every species had not an equal right to creation.

The zebra is not the animal the ancients have indicated under the name onagra. There exists in the Levant, the eastern parts of Asia, and in the northern parts of Africa, a beautiful race of asses, who, like the finest horses, are natives of Arabia. This race differs from the common, by the size of the body, the slenderness of the legs, and the lustre of the hair. They are of a uniform, but commonly of a fine mouse color, with a black cross upon the back and the shoulders; and sometimes they are of a bright gray color, with a flaxen cross. The zebra is also of a different climate from the onagra, and is only to be met with in the most eastern and the most southern parts of Africa, from Ethiopia to the Cape of Good Hope, and thence to Congo. It exists neither in Europe, Asia, nor America, nor even in all the northern parts of Africa. Those which some travellers tell us they have seen at the Brazils, have been transported thither from Africa; those which others are recounted to have seen in Persia, and in Turkey, have been brought from Ethiopia; and, in short, those that we have seen in Europe are almost all from the Cape of Good Hope. This point of Africa is their true climate, their native country, and where the Dutch have employed all their care to subject them and to render them tame, without having been hitherto able to succeed. That which has served for the subject of our description, was very wild when he arrived at the royal menagerie in France; and he was never entirely tamed. Nevertheless, he was broken for the saddle; but there were precautions necessary; two men held the bridle, while a third was upon him. His mouth is very hard; his ears so sensible, that he winces whenever any person goes to touch them. He is restive, like a vicious horse, and obstinate as a mule; but, perhaps, the wild horse and the onagra are not less intractable; and there is reason to believe, that if the zebra was accustomed to obedience

and tameness from his earliest years, he would become as mild as the ass and the horse, and might be substituted in their room.

The zebra is chiefly found in the southern parts of Africa; often seen near the Cape of Good Hope, and a penalty of fifty rix dollars is inflicted on any person who shoots one of them. Such of them as are caught alive, are presented to the governor. Several have been brought to England; but, except in one instance, they have all displayed great wildness, and even ferocity. The exception was in that which was burnt some years ago at Exeter 'Change. It would allow young children to be put upon its back, and was once ridden from the Lyceum to Pimlico; but it was bred and reared in Portugal, from parents half reclaimed. In several other cases, zebras have attempted to injure spectators, and have not even spared their keepers. The voice of this creature is thought to have a distant resemblance to the sound of a post horn.

THE ZEBRA OF THE PLAINS.1

THE zebra which we have just described, is confined to the mountains; the subject of the present article inhabits the flat parts near the Cape. Till very recently, the difference between them was not accurately understood. "The ground color of its whole body," says Mr Bennett, "is white, interrupted by a regular series of broad black stripes extending from the back across the sides, with narrower and fainter ones intervening between each. Over the haunches and shoulders, these stripes form a kind of bifurcation, between the divisions of which there are a few transverse lines of the same color; but these suddenly and abruptly cease, and are not continued on the legs, which are perfectly white. Along the back there is a narrow, longitudinal line, bordered on each side with white. The mane is throughout broadly and deeply tipped with black, and is marked by a continuation of the transverse bands of the neck. The lines of the face are narrow and beautifully regular; from the centre of the forehead they radiate downwards over the eyes; along the front of the muzzle they are longitudinal, the outer ones having a curve outwards; and on the sides they form broader transverse bands. From the confluence of these bands on the extremity of the muzzle, the nose, and the lower lip, those parts become of a nearly uniform blackish brown. The tail is white: there is no longitudinal ventral line: and a large black patch occupies the posterior part of the ear, near the tip. The hoofs are moderately large, deep in front, shallow behind, and much expanded at their margin."

The subject of the present article, which has now been about two years in the menagerie, will suffer a boy to ride her about the yard; and is

1 Equus montanus, BURCHELL.

frequently allowed to run loose through the Tower, with a man by her side, whom she does not attempt to quit, except to run to the canteen, where she is occasionally indulged with a draught of ale, of which she is particularly fond.

THE quagga, which till lately has been confounded with the zebra, is now acknowledged as a distinct species, much allied to the former, but marked with fewer and larger bands, which are of a browner color than in the zebra, and are chiefly disposed on the fore parts of the animal; while the hind parts are rather spotted than striped. The ground color also of the quagga is of a ferruginous tinge, especially on the thighs and back. It is of a milder nature than the zebra, and is said to have been successfully used by some of the Dutch colonists at the Cape, in the manner of a horse, for draught, &c. It inhabits the same parts of Africa as the zebra, but is found in separate herds, never associating with that species.

THE DOMESTIC ASS2

Is naturally as humble, patient, and quiet, as the horse is proud, ardent, and impetuous. He suffers with constancy, and perhaps with courage, chastisement and blows. He is moderate, both as to the quantity and quality of his food. He is contented with the hardest and most disagreeable herbs, which the horse, and other animals, will leave with disdain. He is very delicate, with respect to his water, for he will drink none but the clearest, and from rivulets which he is acquainted with. He drinks as moderately as he eats, and does not put his nose in the water, through fear, as some 2 Equus asinus, LIN.

1 Equus couagga, GMEL.

say, of the shadow of his ears; as care is not taken to currycomb him, he frequently rolls himself on the grass, thistles, and in the dust; and, without regarding his load, he lays himself down to roll about as often as he can, and by this seems to reproach his master for the little care he takes of him. For he does not paddle about in the mud and in the water; he even fears to wet his feet, and will turn out of his road to avoid the mud. His legs are also drier and cleaner than the horse; he is susceptible of education, and some have been seen sufficiently disciplined to be made a show of.

In their earliest youth they are- sprightly, and even handsome. They are light and genteel; but either from age or bad treatment, they soon lose their beauty, and become slow, indocile, and headstrong. Pliny assures us, that, when they separate the mother from the young one, she will go through fire to recover it. The ass is also strongly attached to his master, notwithstanding he is usually ill treated; he will smell him afar off, and can distinguish him from all other men. He also knows the places where he has lived, and the ways which he has frequented. His eyes are good, and his smell acute; his ears are excellent, which has also contributed to his being numbered among timid animals, all of which, it is pretended, have the hearing extremely delicate, and the ears long. When he is overloaded, he shows it by lowering his head and bending down his ears. When he is greatly abused, he opens his mouth, and draws back his lips in a most disagreeable manner, which gives him an air of derision and scorn. If his eyes are covered over, he remains motionless; and when he is laid down on his side, and his head is fixed in such a manner that one eye rests on the ground, and that the other is covered with a piece of wood or stick, he will remain in this situation without any motion or endeavor to get up. He walks, trots, and gallops like the horse; but all his motions are smaller, and much slower: notwithstanding he can run with tolerable swiftness, he can gallop but a little way, and only for a small space of time, and, whatever pace he uses, if he is hard pressed, he is soon fatigued.