These stripes were exactly of the same form as those upon a zebra; but far less distinct, and not extending to the body or limbs, as is the case with the true zebra.

In general colour, and in some other respects, the animals reminded one of the ass; but their heads, necks, and the upper part of their bodies, were of darker hue, slightly tinged with reddish-brown.

In fact, the new-comers had points of resemblance to all four--horse, ass, gnoo, and zebra--and yet they were distinct from any.

To the zebra they bore the greatest resemblance--for they were in reality a species of zebra--they were _quaggas_.
Modern naturalists have divided the _Equidae_, or horse family, into two genera--the _horse (equus_) and the _ass (asinus_)--the principal points of distinction being, that animals of the horse kind have long flowing manes, full tails, and warty callosities on both hind and fore limbs; while asses, on the contrary, have short, meagre, and upright manes, tails slender and furnished only with long hairs at the extremity, and their hind limbs wanting the callosities.

These, however, are found on the fore-legs as upon horses.
Although there are many varieties of the horse genus--scores of them, widely differing from each other--they can all be easily recognised by these characteristic marks, from the "Suffolk Punch," the great London dray-horse, down to his diminutive little cousin the "Shetland Pony." The varieties of the ass are nearly as numerous, though this fact is not generally known.
First, we have the common ass (_Asinus vulgaris_), the type of the genus; and of this there are many breeds in different countries, some nearly as elegant and as highly prized as horses.