establishment of running steamers, and that a vast amount of time will be saved over present routes, Of the political bearing of the subject, we have said nothing, but holding in view that the line from Ceylon to Cochin China, is nearly straight, we are convinced that if Great Britain does not take it in hand, France must, with every chance of a profitable opposition to the P. and O. Company in their line with Europe to Calcutta viâ Madras. ALEX. FRASER, Captain, Bengal Engineers. J. G. FORLONG, Captain F. R. S E. Ex. Engineer, Tenasserim Provinces. Tables. Table of Great Sea Routes from Ceylon to China and Calcutta and vice versa. See Report on the communication by the Isthmus of Krau by Captains Distance in Miles. Fraser and Forlong. Dated Tavoy, the 26th April, 1861. Saving. I. Routes two Steamers starting per month on all Lines. II. Singapore. Akyab. Rangoon. Maulmein. Tavoy. Mergui. Krau. Hong-kong. Total. No. of Tons coal Burnt. No. of Hours. Steam. Cost of Fuel. III. { IV. ... ... ... 1610 ... 280 480 120 150 110 150 ... 280 480 120 98 2450 525 2975 11,900 11,900 above line from saving A. See 8th clause para. 19. 3,50,000 3 Lacs * By leaving out Mergui, and establishing communication between Rangoon and Elephant Point, and Amherst and Maulmein, the saving of 19 hours may be increased to 34 hours, see 8th clause 17th Para. of Report. A Further Note on Wild Asses, and alleged Wild Horses. 6 At the time that my paper On the Different Animals known as Wild Asses,' (Vol. XXVIII. 229,) was submitted to the public, I had seen no detailed description of an undoubted African wild Ass, though (for reasons assigned) I claimed it as the veritable ASINUS ONAGER, as distinguished from sundry kindred specific races that had been a good deal confounded. This animal has, of late, been received both in the Paris Jardin des Plantes, and in the London Zoological Gardens ; though, still, no particular notice of it would appear to have been yet published, shewing its distinctive characters, upon comparison, with the HEMIPPUS, HEMIONUS, &c.; nor have we been made acquainted with those that are alleged to justify the discrimination of the Kyang from the Ghor-khur. In a very interesting work that I have lately seen, however, I find a description of the wild Ass of the African Zahára, which, I think, worthy of citing, and thus bringing more prominently to notice; and, especially, as it indicates the existence of at least a second African species, as the Hamar or Ahmar of Sudan; which latter is, doubtless, that which Dr. Barth considered to be identical in species with Mr. R. Schlagintweit's Indian Ghor-khur. I may further notice, that, in Kraff's Travels, &c., in E. Africa (p. 277), "wild Asses" are mentioned as being "plentiful in Kayo" (about 5o N. lat.) Mr. Tristram writes, that, while his companion "set off with his sketch-book, I returned to see a very fine Ass which had been brought, for inspection, and was valued at thirty dollars. Having heard that wild Asses were to be occasionally found in the Soufa desert, on the route to Ghadames, I had made every enquiry after one; fully believing that I should see the Koomrah (Equus hippagrus, Jardine,)† mentioned by Dr. Shaw, and known to inhabit some of the sparsely wooded hills of the Fezzan country. "My surprise, therefore, was great on seeing a veritable 'Onager' or wild Ass, of what exact species I cannot state. He certainly approached, very near, the ASINUS ONAGER of Asia [meaning the Ghor-khur, or E. asinus onager of Pallas and the younger Gmelin‡], *The Great Sahára: Wanderings South of the Atlas mountains. By H. B. Tristram, M. A., F. Z. S., &c. (1860), p. 318. + Potius C. Hamilton Smith, in Jardine's Nat. Libr.-E. B. Asinus indicus, Sclater. |