A Natural History for Young People: Our Animal Friends in Their Native Homes: including mammals, birds and fishesHumphreys, Phebe Westcott
History
A Natural History for Young People: Our Animal Friends in Their Native Homes: including mammals, birds and fishes
Humphreys, Phebe Westcott
Natural history -- Juvenile literature
This elegant animal is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and probably
the whole of southern, and a part of eastern, Africa. Travelers state
that they have met with it in Congo, Guinea, and Abyssinia. It delights
in mountainous countries, and, although it is less rapid than the Wild
Ass, its paces are so good that the best Horses are alone able to
overtake it.
The Zebra lives in droves, but is very shy in its nature; it is endowed
with powers of sight that enable it to perceive from great distances the
approach of hunters.
THE HEMIONUS OR DSHIKKETEE.
The Dshikketee in its shape and proportions seems to occupy a position
intermediate between the Horse and the wild Ass. This indeed is implied
by its name, derived from the Greek word hemionos, meaning half-ass. It
somewhat resembles a Mule, but its legs are more slender and it is more
attractive. Its general color is brown, with black mane and a black
stripe across the shoulders; the tail likewise is terminated by a black
tuft.
These quadrupeds inhabit the sandy deserts of Asia, especially those of
Mongolia or the plains north of the Himalaya, and live in droves often
consisting of more than a hundred individuals. Enduring and swift, they
are not easily approached, but as both their hides and flesh are much
sought after, they are often caught in traps arranged for the purpose,
or are shot by hundreds lying in ambush near the salt meadows which they
love to frequent. They were said to be as easily broken in as the Horses
reared in our meadows and permitted to run at large till they are four
or five years old.
THE QUAGGA.
The Quagga is smaller than the Zebra, and resembles the Horse in general
shape. His head is small, and his ears are short. The color of head,
neck and shoulders is a dark brown, verging on black. The tail is
terminated by a tuft of long hair. It is a native of the plateaux of
Caffraria, and feeds on grasses and shrubs, and lives in droves with the
Zebra.
It is tamed without difficulty. The Dutch colonists were in the habit of
keeping them with their herds, which they defended against the Hyenas.
If one of these formidable carnivora threatened to attack the Cattle,
the domesticated Quagga would attack and beat down the enemy with its
fore-hoofs, trampling it to death.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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