Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/838

 808 ZEBU ZEILAH the centre and their heels toward the enemy, defending themselves against the large carni- vora by their kicks. The zebra has been used as a beast of burden, and it will cross with the horse and the ass. The flesh is eaten by the natives and hunters in South Africa, and is said to be very good, though coarse. There is another species (A. Eurchetii, Fisch.), the dauw of the Hottentots, the peetsi or peechi of the more northern Africans, and the hippotigris of the ancients, which occurs as far north as Abyssinia ; this, with the quagga, inhabits the plains, and like it has no black bands on the limbs ; in the ears and tail, and the symmetry of its form, it is more like the horse than is the common zebra ; its voice is a shrill, abrupt neigh, unlike the bray of an ass; it has the mane short and erect. ZEBD (bos Indicus, Linn.), the Brahman bull, a variety of the domesticated ox, characterized by a large fatty hump on the shoulders. It is found in India and its archipelago, China, Ara- bia, Persia, and on the E. coast of Africa. This variety is very small, sometimes not exceeding a large dog in height ; the ears are long and pendulous, and the horns sometimes absent. Zebus are held sacred by the Hindoos, who Zeba. consider it a sin to kill them, and allow them great liberties ; they are made to work, how- ever, and harnessed to a carriage will travel 30 m. a day. The hump is considered by Eng- lish residents in India delicious eating. It is forbidden to take the bulls out of the country ; but a female brought to America, and publicly exhibited here in 1861-'2, gave birth to a male calf on the passage, and there is a male in the Central park, New York, and one in Prospect park, Brooklyn. These specimens have small horns; the female is about the size of a year- old heifer, but with shorter legs, and is of a mixed mouse and hoary gray color, very gentle, and with remarkably soft hair; the male is brown, with coarser hair, and less gentle. The cattle of the Dutch East Indian colonists are mostly of this race, but larger, and consider- ably crossed with the Sunda ox (bos Sondaicw). ZEBf ISLAND. See ZEBI'LIN, the tenth son of Jacob, the sixth and last by Leah. Of the patriarch Zebulun nothing is known. In the division of terri- tory after the conquest of Palestine, the tribe received an early allotment, reaching accord- ing to Josephus from the lake of Gennesaret on the east to Carmel and the Mediterranean. This district included the fisheries of the lake of Galilee, the fertile plain of the Buttauf, and numerous mountain passes valuable for defence. Tabor was on its S. border, and Nazareth, Cana, and Tiberias were within its limits. Zebulun emerges from the general obscurity of the northern tribes during the struggle with Sisera, when it fought bravely side by side with Naph- tali ; it sent 50,000 warriors to attend David's inauguration at Hebron ; it was carried off to Assyria, and after the return from the captivity came in large numbers to Jerusalem to keep the passover of Hezekiah. The tribe was both agricultural and warlike, and from its ports on the Mediterranean seems to have carried on commerce with the Phoenicians. ZECHARIAH, or Zaehariah, the eleventh of the twelve minor prophets, who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel, and began to pro- phesy in the second year of Darius, king of Persia, 520 B. C., two months after Haggai. The book of Zechariah consists of four general divisions: 1, the introduction or inaugural dis- course (ch. i., 1-6) ; 2, a series of nine visions, extending to ch. vii., communicated to the prophet in the third month after his installa- tion ; 8, a collection of four oracles delivered at various times in the fourth year of Darius, with regard to the solemnities that had been observed on account of the overthrow of the nation (ch. vii.); 4, the following chapters (viii. to xiv.) contain a variety of prophecies, unfolding the fortunes of the people, and tho fate of many of the surrounding nations, Ha- drach (by some supposed to designate Persia), Damascus, Tyre, and Philistia. The book con- cludes with a vision of the prosperity of Jeru- salem, the theocratic metropolis. Zechariah is the longest of the minor prophets. His style is broken and unconnected. The genu- ineness of the latter portion, from ch. ix. to xiv., the style of which is entirely different from that of the rest, being more archaic and powerful, has been disputed in modern times by Hitzig, Knobel, Davidson, and others, but it has also found defenders. Special com- mentaries on Zechariah have been written by Forberg (1824), Howard (1824), Baumgarten (1860), Kliefoth (1862), and Pressel (1870). ZEDEKIAH. See HEBREWS, vol. viii., p. 589. ZEELAND. See ZEALAND. ZEILAH, or Zaylah, an Egyptian seaport, on the gulf of Aden, in the Somauli country, about 100 m. S. of the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb ; pop. about 5,000. It is the only port on that part of the coast, and is the outlet of an extensive interior region, the chief place of which is Harar, a large walled town eight days' journey