, shape, and in fact everything
except colour. In the last respect it differs from both, in being of a
plain ashy brown hue over the upper parts of the body, very indistinctly
striped, and of a dirty white colour underneath. Like the dauw, it
frequents the open plains--trooping together in vast droves, and often
herding with several species of antelopes.

Another species of quagga, called the Isabella quagga, is supposed to
exist in South Africa; but there are doubts upon this subject. The name
is derived from the colour of a specimen seen by a very untrustworthy
traveller, which was of the hue known as Isabella colour; but nothing is
known of the animal, and most naturalists believe that the Isabella
quagga is identical with the other species, and that the specimen
reported by Le Vaillant was only a young quagga of the common kind.

All these species of African horses are generally classed with the genus
_Asinus_; that is, they are considered as _asses_, not _horses_.

We now come to other species of the ass genus, which were all originally
natives of Asia.

First, then, there is the domestic _Ass_; and of this species there are
almost as many varieties as of the horse,--some of them, as the Guddha
of the Mahrattas, not larger than a mastiff, while others exist in
different parts of the world as large as a two-year-old heifer. Asses
are found of a pure white, and black ones are common, but the usual
colour is that to which they have given their name--the "colour of an
ass."

Besides the domestic species, there are several others still found wild.
There is the Koulan, which is exceedingly shy and swift--so much so
that it is difficult to capture or even kill one of them; since before
the hunter can approach within rifle range of them, they take the alarm
and gallop out of sight. They live in troops, inhabiting the desert
plains of Persia and Mesopotamia in winter, while in summer they betake
themselves to the mountain ranges. They are also found on the steppes
bordering the Caspian and Aral Seas.

Another species of wild ass is the Kiang. This inhabits Thibet. It is
of a bright bay colour, and has a smooth coat; but the males are deeper
coloured than the females. They live in troops of about a dozen
individuals under a solitary male; and frequent places where the
thermometer is below zero--though they dwell indifferently either on
open plains or mountains.

The kiang has a variety of appellations, accor