Evening star., 1909-05-09

flats. with a fair start. they can usually
gailop clean away from the mounted man.
IL 1t were not for a habit of curiosity,
they would. indeed be -kittle cattle" to
come up With on the great plains. But
their curiosity is often their undoing. /
have many times gal.oped steadily behind
a troop of these zebras. and then halted
FOR a moment. The Zebras would then
wheel quickly round in line and stand
for minute to have good look at the
pursuer This was the time to put in a
steady shot. Sometimes. even when the
hunter Is galloping. they will turn round
and stand for moment, apparently out
of sheer curiosity
In semi bushy country where their
view is more circumscrihed. tlrese zabras
are without much difficulty shot. In Ma
shonaland large numbers of these zebra s
have been shot within the last few years
by the pioneers and settlers. | have
found that by making a detour and get
ting between them and the bush to which
they run for shelter these animals when
feeding in the open can be driven about
and shot pretty much at will. They seem
for The time to become flustered lose
their heads. try to make short cuts past
the mounted men, and so fall victims In
former days these magnificent beasts ran
in immense numbers in all the open coun-
try from the Orange river TO the Zambes.
They are stll 70 be found in large troops
in the Ngamiland country. in remoter
parts of Mashonaland. and in still larger
numbers east and northeast of Mashona-
land toward the coast. Beyond the Zam-
besi they are widely distributed i'm Africa,
becoming exceedingly plentiful again
upon the great plains between the east
coast and Uganda. South of the Orange
river they seem seldom. if ever to have
ranged.
Burchell's zebra is not to be confounded
with the more asinine black and white
mountain zebra &c zebra),. which is per-
fectly striped all over. The Burchelrs ze-
bra is best known to the British public
of all this handsome group. good exam
pies being always on view in the Zoologi-
cal Society's gardens. As general rule
this zebra is not perfectly banded down
the legs-as IS its mountain cousin--but a
variety. sometimes called by scientists
'Chapman's zebra is to be found in the
interior. with the white legs pretty gem
orally banded as far down as the fet-
locks. The average European sportsman,
having shot a few of these beautiful crea-
lures as specimens. Will usually stay his
hand and spare them. unless meat for his
followers is absolutely needed. The Boer
and native hunter. on the contrary. shoot
them whenever they get the chance,
merely for the price of the skin-a mat
ter of few shillings up country. And
so the species becomes exterminated. 1t
is a thousand pties. OF all sights in the
the eye-I know of few nobler than
good troop of Burchells Zebras. creatures
which seem TO have been created for no
other purpose than to adorn the wilder
ness Whether feeding quietly among the
herbage; or resting in the heat of mid
day; fleeting across the plain, their
striped coats clean and shining as a
we'll groomed race horse. cleaning in the
sunlight: brisk. beautifully proportioned
and full of life and spirits: these zebras
represent the highest perfection of ferai
life True children of the sun-drenched
plains. long may they yet flourish to deco
rate the African veldt.
Ry permission OF Longmans Green & Co.. y. Y.
Copyright 1909 by BENZ. B. Hamrtcn'