From Alexander Dick-Cunyngham 12 March 1879
Karachi, Sind,
12th. March 1879
Dear Sir,
In your Variation of Animals and Plants, Vol II p 190—you say:—
According to Varro, the wild ass was formerly caught and crossed with the tame animal to improve the breed—1
It may interest you to know that this plan is still carried out in this part of the country. A wild ass, caught in the Runn of Kutch, was kept for many years by the late Khan Bahadoor Murad Khan at his estate on the Hubb river 20 miles from here, and a large number of donkeys were bred by him— He also got some very fine mules out of Beloochee mares—2 He was very savage and if ever he got loose he at once killed all the he asses about the place
A female wild ass was lately caught near Bawalpur, and on Murad Khan’s death they were both sent to the Calcutta Zoological Gardens, where they are still—3
Apologising for intruding upon you, | I am, | yours faithfully | A, Dick-Cunyngham
Footnotes
Bibliography
Hendricks, Bonnie L. 2007. International encyclopedia of horse breeds. Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press.
Hughes, A. W., comp. 1876. A gazetteer of the province of Sind. 2d edition. London: George Bell and Sons.
Pallas, Pyotr Simon. 1777. Observations sur l’asne dans son état sauvage ou sur le véritable onagre des anciens. Acta Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae (1877 pt 2): 258–77.
Walker, Sally. 2001. Zoological gardens of India. In Zoo and aquarium history: ancient animal collections to zoological gardens, edited by Vernon N. Kisling, Jr. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press.
Summary
Report of wild ass crossed with tame one in India.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-11926
- From
- Alexander Dick-Cunyngham
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Karachi
- Source of text
- DAR 161: 279
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11926,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11926.xml
