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.
The geographical range of the Quagga does not appear to extend to the northward of the river Vaal. The animal was formerly extremely common within the colony, but vanishing before the strides of civilization, is now to be found there in very limited numbers, and on the borders only. Beyond, on those sultry plains which are completely taken possession of by wild beasts, and may with strict propriety be termed the domains of savage nature, it occurs in interminable herds. Moving slowly across the profile of the ocean-like horizon, uttering a shrill barking neigh, of which its name forms a correct limitation, long files of Quaggas continually remind the early traveler of a rival caravan on its march. Bands of many hundreds are thus frequently seen during their migration from the dreary and desolate plains of some portion of the interior which has formed their secluded abode, seeking for more luxuriant pastures where, during the summer months, various herbs and grasses thrive.
THE DAUW.
The Dauw seems to take a middle place between the Zebra and the Quagga. It resembles the former in its shape and proportions, and the latter in the color of its coat.
This quadruped is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and doubtless of many of the mountainous districts of Southern Africa. It lives in arid and desert localities, in droves, and is shy, and difficult to tame.
QUADRUPEDS THAT CHEW THE CUD.
THIS order of animals is known as the Ruminantia, or the Ruminant Order, because all these animals possess the strange power of ruminating, or of bringing back into their mouth (in order to re-chew it), the food that they have once swallowed.