Note (return) — Chapter XIII · VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, BY COMMODORE ROGGEWEIN, is 1721-1723.1 (continued 3)

There are two animals peculiar to this country, which therefore deserve notice. One is a species of wild ass, which resembles the common ass in nothing but the length of its ears. It is as large as an ordinary horse, and is the most beautiful animal in the world. His hair is very soft, and from the ridge of the back descends in coloured streaks to the belly, forming so many circles. It is a brisk and lively creature, which runs more swiftly than any horse. It is very difficult to take alive, and when taken cannot be tamed; yet sells at a prodigious price, and is thought a fit present for a sovereign prince, from its rarity and exquisite beauty4. The other creature, found in no other country, is called by the Dutch the Stinkbungsen, or Stinking-Badger. This is of the size of an ordinary dog, but is shaped like a ferret. When pursued by man or beast, it retreats but slowly, and when its enemy draws near, discharges backwards a so intolerably fetid wind, that dogs tear up the ground and hide their noses in it, to avoid the smell. When killed, it stinks so abominably that there is no approaching the carcass, which is therefore left to consume where it falls.