THE MULE AND THE HINNY. 183

the company; and accordingly, he makes his choice by going
round, and touching one of the prettiest with his head, to
the great amusement of the company.”
TheMuleana The Mule and the Hinny, are the off-spring
the Hinny. of the ass and the horse and combine to some
extent the qualities of both. The mule has the sure-footed-
ness of the ass, and the size and appearance of the horse.
His history dates back to classical and Biblical times, and
mention is made of him both in the Iliad and in the Bible.
In the East he is still trained to useful service, and in Eng-
land he is used in tramways and road cars. The Spanish
mules are trained to understand the calls of their driver who
directs their course by shouting from the box.

The Zebra. The Zebra resembles the horse in shape, and
in size stands half way between the horse and the ass.
He belongs to Central Africa, and hitherto has resisted all
attempts to tame him for practical use. He is a beautiful
animal, handsomely marked with black and white stripes
all over the body, and black and white rings round the legs.
Burchell’s Zebra which belongs to the Cape of Good Hope,
is similar, but has white legs. The Quagga of Southern Africa
has a brown coat striped with black, a white waistcoat, and
white stockings. Zebras have been half tamed, when kept in
menageries, but lack the instinctive docility of the horse.

The Tapir. The next family we have to deal with is the
family of the Zapiride, in which there are two genera and
six species. The Tapir is a large and powerful animal
standing from five to six feet in height and inhabiting the
warmer regions of South America. It is nocturnal in its
habits and feeds on water-melons, gourds, and other fruits
and vegetables. It frequents the water and can remain below
the surface for a long time. Its hide is very thick and its
senses of sight, hearing, and smell very acute. Its most
characteristic feature is as hort mobile probos-cis which enables
it to seize hold of boughs and fruits when in search of food.