The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-03-31
PAINTED MULES.
PROF. EWART's EXPERIMENT IN
RAISING ZEBRULES.

ReIatives-The characteristics OF
His OfTsprIngs-PossibIe Future of
the New Breed.
From the Badminton Magazine
"As pretty as a painted mu e" used to be
the very highest form in which an enthu-
siastie cowboy could express his feelings
in the presence of any object that fired his
imagination Mules. generally speaking.
are not gay to look at, but are subdued in
tone: as a rule you frd them Of a sober
brown or of a Quaker-like m3use color,
without any conspicuous white stockings
or blazed face. or even 50 much as white
star in the forehead, to attract attention.
Consequently the advent at dis ant iner-
walls Of some phenomenal specimen Of the
long-eared. slim tailed offspring Of the
jackass and the mare, rejoicing in those
plcturesquely clouded roam markings that
gain for it among the artist-soulsd M XII
cans the envied title of 'mula piuta,"
or "painted mule" never failed 60 evoke
the liveliest appreciation in the breast Of
th cowpouncher.
But now a new order of painted mu es
has arisen, and to all appearance they
have come to stay. Prof. Cesar Ewart of
Edinburgh, distinguished Scotch man OF
science, has started breeding what ne
terms "zebrules' is 10 say, mules of
which the sire is not the common jackass.
but the male zebra. He was led TO under
take the enterprise by a desire to carry out
on his property at Denicuik in the Pent-
lands series of scientific experiments,
with a view to testing the much-debated
question as to whether or not the first lire
TT. fFaflr
the subsequent progeny of his mate by
another sire, an influence known 10 science
as "telegony." With this object in view
he procured from Antwerp fine full
grown specimen of Burchells zebra, which
was said to have been caught in or near
the Transvaal. and he appropriately
named him Matopo, after the range of
hills Where the Matabele warriors de-
Tended themselves so long against the
whites. Matopo Is a splendid animal,
with excellent action both in trotting and
galloping. His wthers are low. like those
of jaekass but in spite of that he stands
nearly thirteen hands high His neck is
fine for a zebra; he &as good quarters,
and carries his tail more like a horse than
an ass iHs skin is dark, while the
ground color of the hair is a light dun.
varying from cream color to nearly white;
he is beautifully banded all over with
stripes, broad on the body and neck, mar
row on the legs, which in tone are black
or all but black during the summer.
The Zebra's Instructive Dread.
The difficulties that Prof. Ewart had
TO meet were not inconsiderable Like
most wild animals, Matopo was exceed
ingly timid, and, considering that from
the beginning of time zebras in South
Africa have lived in hourly dread of be-
ing suddenly pounced on by a lion, there
is nothing to be surprised at in this. His
extreme caution was sometimes amusing
to watch, but when panic led him to dash
himself blindly against anything that
came in his way it was decidedly danger
Gus. Once, when he refused to go back
to his box, his owner threw a rug over
him. Evidently the result in the zebra's
mind was the idea that the lion he had
all his life gone in fear of had got him
at last. In frantic terror he dashed around
the yard, charging headlong into a mare
that stood there, and nearly knocking her
over, and coliding violently with the
fence. Happily, however he came to no
serious harm. Another thing, too, of
which he stood in the greatest awe was
a rope; the mere sight of one was enough
to produce alarm, and if a rope were
brought into contact with his legs he
would actually drop on his knees or even
fall down.. Probably he had been roped
with great severity by the Boer hunters
WHO Caught anu western men kfk)W
well how "broncho" who has been fre- !
quently lassoed learns to dread the slight
est touch Of the RATA.
There was considerable difficulty over
the first Introduction of Matopo TO his |
equine relatives. On both sides no small
fear was manifested. Horses seemed to
look upon this novel and gayly striped
animal as a fearfully active and alarm |
ing kind of tiger and their terror was
redoubled when they heard the peculiar
call of "quacha, qaacha, to which he
gave utterance. Even so high-couraged a
creature as an Arab stallion was fright
ened very badly by the zebra's cry.
Nor was Matopo himself much less
alarmed at his first meeting with one of
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
a corner, and uttered low cries of ter
ror. This was rather disheartening for
a beginning, so Prof. Ewart decided to
select something less likely to terrify
him. The Highland pony was quite as
big as the zebra or bigger, but there are
Shetland ponies that do not much exceed
a large dog in hight. Thinking that one
of these diminutive specimens would look
less formidable in his eyes, Prof. Ewart
turned MatQpo loose with a very plucky
little Sheltie named Shella, in order to see
If Matopo would get over his terrors. The
undaunted Sheltie at once went for the
zebra and bullied. him well, until at last
like a timid boy Who has been goaded too
far, the zebra turned on his tormentor