Mr. E. Blytli on the different Animals known as Wild Asses. 249 



Fraser states that the Asses of Oman are the best in Arabia, 

 and individuals of the best breeds sell for extravagant prices *. 

 In Munro's ' Syria ' we are told that the Asses of Damascus 

 stand fourteen hands high ; and elsewhere he remarks of one of 

 them, " This Ass was the finest of the kind I ever saw ; and the 

 guide asserted that he would sell for more than both his own 

 Horses. With all the animation and temper of a Horse, he had 

 the superior qualification of being quicker and easier in his 

 walk. . . . This Ass was found, after a long journey, to refuse 

 his food. On visiting him, after supper, I found that the Ass 

 was not eating, and seemed out of spirits. The guide accounted 

 for this by saying that he was in the habit of living in the house 

 with his master, and that he was alarmed at being left in the 

 dark by himself; wherefore I ordered him into the shed, and 

 his supper being placed near the fire, he fell upon it with great 

 avidity, and had no sooner finished, than he claimed a right to 

 belong to the society, by lying down amongst us, to my great 

 amusement, and the infinite chagrin of my companions, who 

 would have turned him out but for my interference. During 

 the night he became restless, and got up in order to lie down on 

 his other side ; in doing which he interfered with the guide's 

 legs, whom I found abusing him for being a pig and an infidel, 

 and threatening to spit on his beard." 



In Irwin's ' Memoir of Afghanistan/ we are informed that 

 " the Ass gradually improves as we proceed westward from the 

 Company's provinces. Perhaps the best are those from the west 

 of Khorassan ; but even these are much inferior to the Arabian 

 or the Spanish. Asses are imported from Kabul into Bokhara 

 and the north-west of Turkistan." Buckingham tells us that 

 " one of the peculiarities of Baghdad is its race of white Asses, 

 which, as at Cairo, are saddled and bridled for the conveyance 

 of passengers from one part of the town to another ; and these 

 are equally as large and spirited as the Egyptian Ass, and have 

 as easy and speedy a pace. They are frequently spotted over 

 with colours, and otherwise fantastically marked over with red 

 henna-stains." 



At Peshawar, tame Asses of the large race are known as 

 " Bokhara Asses " ; and Sir A. Burnes, writing on the domestic 

 animals of Bokhara, remarks, " None are more useful than the 

 Ass ; the breed is large and sturdy, and they are much used, 

 both for saddle and bridle. There is no objection to riding them, 

 as in India. There are no mules, from a religious prejudice 



* I have somewhere read that the pedigrees of the best Asses of Oman 

 are kept with as much care as those of the choicest breeds of horses in the 

 same province. 



Ann. $ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. vi; 17 



