Przewalski's Horse

Oliphant writes that the little donkey came from Ceylon and he will provide further information about him shortly. The Grevy's zebra has not foaled yet and Oliphant will try to tame the Przewalski's hybrid when the weather turns cold.

Oliphant writes that the Przewalski's horse skeleton in the British Museum is of a white-nosed mare that Ewart had measured when she was alive. He notes that they have only two of the brown nosed variety at Woburn, although he has not noticed any differences in bone between the two varieties.

Oliphant writes that he has unfortunately cremated Ewart's Przewalski's foal, as Ewart's telegram arrived too late to instruct otherwise. He reports that another of Ewart's mares has foaled, but that the offspring is male again.

Oliphant notes that Ewart requested the Przewalski's foal to be sent to the taxidermist Rowland Ward, but he trusts they will not have another mishap as there is only one foal this year. He reports that Ewart's third Przewalski's mare foaled that morning, as well as the Mongolian pony, but the offspring are all males. He asks if Ewart would consider carrying out the experiment further.

Oliphant writes that the Duke of Bedford wishes to know what Ewart would like to to do further with the experiments at Woburn with cross-breeding a Przewalski's horse with pony mares. He wonders if the Mongolian stallion kiang and mare would be of any use to Ewart to experiment with on the land he has recently acquired.

Oliphant writes that the Duke of Bedford wishes to send Ewart three Przewalski's hybrids, a Mongolian pony mare and a Przewalski's stallion and he warns Ewart that they are not tame.

Oliphant asks Ewart to give his opinion on sending the three Przewalski's hybrids in separate crates due to their wildness.

Oliphant writes that they will keep the Mongolian mare at Woburn until she foals before sending her to Ewart, and that he will send the Przewalski's hybrids in crates shortly.

Oliphant reports a delay in sending the Przewalski's hybrids to Ewart due to having to make adjustments to the size of the crates. He provides details on the animals so that Ewart can identify them when they arrive.

Oliphant writes that one of the Przewalski's mares has died after miscarrying her foal. He asks if Ewart could let them have the use of his Przewalski's mare that season to keep the race going. He reports that a Przewalski's foal and two hybrids have been born, but they have not yet been able to approach them to ascertain their gender.