The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-03-25
Painted Mules
Crossing the Zebra
and the Equine.

enthusiastic cowboy could express MS
feelings in the presence OF any object
that fired his imagination. Mules gen
orally speaking. are not gay 70 look at,
but are subdued in tone; as a rule you
ind them Of q sober brown or Of a
Quaker-Hke mouse color, without any
Conspicuous white stockings or blaZed
face. Or even 50 much as a white star
IN the forehead, 10 attract attention
Consequently the advent at distant inter
walls Of some phenomenal specimen Of the
Iong-eared. Stimulated offspring OF the
jackass and the mare, rejoicing in those
oicturesquely cloUded roam markings that
gain fer it among the artist-=0uled Mex
deans the envied title Of a ''mula pinta-'
or painted mule never failed to evoke
the Hveiiest appreciation in the breast
Of the cowDuncher.
But now q new order Of painted mules
has arisen, and 10 al a9pea-ances they
have come to stay. Prek Cesar Ewart
OF Edinburgh. q distinguished Scotch man
of science, has started breeding what he
terms '-zebruIes' Is 10 say, mules
Of which the sire is not the common
tackass but the male zebra. He was led
20 Undertake the enterprise by desire
TO carry oUL on his property at Penicuik
IN the Pentlands d series Of scientific ex-
perimeuts, with a view TO testing the
mUch-de5ated question as 70 whether OF
not the first sire ever exercises any Wis
ible influence over the subsequent pro
geny Of his mate by another sire, an in
fiUenCe known 70 science as ''teIegony.'
With this object IN view ne procured
from Antwerp a fine fuII-groWn specimen
% BurchelTs zebra, which was said to
have been caught in or near the Trans
wall, and he appropriately named him
Matopo. after the range Of hills where
the NatabeIe warriors defended them
selves 50 long against the whites. Ma
ropo is a splendid animal, with excellent
action both in trotLng and galloping His
withers are low, like those Of the jack
ass, but n spite Of that he stands nearly
thirteen hands high His neck is fine
for zebra, he has good quarters. and
carries his tail more like a horse than
an ass. His skin is dark. while the vary
ing color Of the hair is q light dun. vary
ing from cream 70 nearly white; he IS
beautifully banded all over with stripes;
broad on the back and neck, narrow on
the legs, which in tone are black or all
but black during the summer
The difficulties that Prof. Ewart had
70 meet were not inconsiderable Like
most wild animals. Mar9p5 was exceed
insly tinlid, and, considering that from
the beginning Of time zebras in South
Africa have lived in hourly dread Of be-
ing suddenly bounced on by q lion. there
IS nothing 70 be surprised al in this His
f-1r-ra~77.. -ar7+f7vs
ing 10 watch but when panic led him 70
dash himself 5undIy against anything
that came in his way it was decidedly
dangerous. Once. when he refused TO 60
back to his box. his owner threw a rug
over him. Evidently the result on the
zebra's mind was the idea that the lion
he had all his life gone in fear of had
got him Al last In frantic terror he
dashed around the yard. charging head
long into a mare that stood there. and
nearly knocking her over. and colliding
violently with the fence Happily. how
ever, he came 10 no serious harm. An
other thing, too, Of which he stood in
the greatest awe was a rope the sight
Of one was enough co produce alarm.
and If rope were brought into con
tact with his legs. he would actually drop
on his knees or even fall down Prob
ably he had been roped with great Sc
verify by the Boer hunters who caught
him and Western men know we'll how a
"broncho' who has been frequently las
seed learns 70 dread the slightest touch
Ct the RATA
There was considerable difficulty over
the first introduction Of Matopo TO his
.lfrr f7e. al
fear was manifested. Horses seemed to
look upon this novel and gayIv striped
animal as a fearfulIy active and alarm
ing kind Of tiger. and their terror was re-
doubled when they heard the peculiar
call Of .Guacha, quacha.'' TO which he
gave utterance. Even 81 high-coIraEed
a creature as an Arab stallion was fright
ened very badly by the zebrs's cry.
Nor was Matoro himself much less
alarmed 90 his hrst meeting with one u
the horse tribe at close quarters When
a Highland pony was put into the yard
with him he actually ran away from her
put his tail between his legs. took refuge
In corner and uttered low cries OF ter
ror This was rather dishearteninz for
beginning. SO Prof. Ewart decided 10
select something less likely 60 rar~ffv
him The II ghIand pony was quite Is
big as the zebra CT bigger. but there are
Shetland PONIES that DO not much ex-
coed large deg IN height. Think.rz thar
one ot these dininurive specimens would
look less Formidable in MS eve. Prof
Ewa-t turned Matop0 loose with n very
p.le>y little shetland named Shetlatn or (
DER 20 seq Il NatCpo would get over his (
te-rors- The undaun-e5 Sheita at once I
went for the zebra and huIHed him vel.
until ar last. like a uuiI bow. Who has
been Eoate5 TOD far. the 2 bra turned on +
his to-me1tor and began IN re.a-iats.
Great iy 70 her surprise. he tried u bite
her legs and 50 bring her 60 the --ounE
and by this means he considerably dis
c0nfo-ted her AT first som. however. .
Miss Sheila learned the trick. and she
biz at her antagonists legs vsIian-iv /
I'll she brought him 70 his knees IN turn /
Any one who ever watched . lot % I
t-0icsoDe Mexican burros PLAYING TO- /
Eether viii recognize n once that this
les-ait-1g Performance IS the regular /
same INDUCED IN by members % the ass +
tribe whenever they feel risky.
Ma-021 and Sheila VaEe5 this mimic /
var t-- q couple - hours and chen (
made it I'D and were very good friends.
and The zsb-a's alarm at the horse species I
grew mu-h less. Neve-c heIess. he sruI
showed himself exceedingly shy q al 4
large specimens If r. Prof Fwar- had
collected tor the purpose OF his expert /
men-s several mares ~ different breeds. /
among which was an Irish mare nearly 4
ta7roughhre,i This latter was The first +
sninal above his owr size thai Mato-o (
71'ild trust himself near. She vas bav 4