MAMMALIA-ASS. 319 



The ass is three or four years in growing, and lives twenty-five 01 th rty 

 years. They sleep less than the horse, and do not lie down to sleep unless 

 when quite tired. 



There are among asses different races, as among horses ; but they are 

 much less knewn, because they have not been taken the same care of, or fol- 

 lowed with the same attention ; but we cannot doubt that they came all ori- 

 ginally from warm climates. Aristotle assures us, that there were none in his 

 time in Scythia, nor in the other neighboring countries of Scythia, nor even 

 in Gaul, which, he says, is a cold climate; and he adds, that a cold climate 

 either prevents them from procreating their species, or causes them to de- 

 generate ; and that this last circumstance is the reason that they are small 

 and weak in Illyria, Thrace, and Epirus. They appear to have come origi- 

 nally from Arabia, and to have passed from Arabia into Egypt, from' Egypt 

 into Greece, from Greece into Italy, from Italy into France, and afterwards 

 into Germany, England, and lastly into Sweden, &c. ; for they are, in fact, 

 weak and small in proportion to the coldness of the climate. They are 

 said to have been introduced into England subsequently to the reign of 

 Elizabeth. Of all the various breeds of asses, the Spanish breed is by far 

 the finest. They are often found of the height of fifteen hands, and the 

 value of a hundred guineas. In the northern parts of the United States, 

 the ass is little used ; in the middle and southern States they are common ; 

 in the West Indies, Mexico, and South America, they are the chief beasts 

 of burden. In travelling over the Andes they are of the utmost utility. 



The ass is, perhaps, with respect to himself, the animal which can carry 

 the greatest weight; and as it costs but little to feed him, and he scarcely 

 requires any care, he is of great use in the country, at the mill, &c. ; he 

 also serves to ride on, as all his paces are gentle, and he stumbles less than 

 the horse ; he is frequently put to the plough, in countries where the earth 

 is light, and his dung is an excellent manure to enrich hard moist lands. 

 Nothing is more common in Europe than to see men in humble circum- 

 stances riding on asses and mules. In New England a man would almost 

 as soon be seen mounted on a cow, as on one of these creatures. 



The ass, like some other animals, and some birds, possesses in great per- 

 fection the power of finding his way home, when lost at a great distance. 

 An instance of this is recorded by Kirby and Spence, in their excellent Intro- 

 duction to Entomology. In March, 1816, an ass, the property of Captain 

 Dundas, R. N. then at Malta, Avas shipped on board the Ister frigate, 

 Captain Forrest, bound from Gibraltar for that island. The vessel having 

 struck on some sands off the Point de Gat, at some distance from the shore, 

 the ass was thrown overboard, to give it a chance of swimming to land, — 

 a poor one, for the sea was running so high, that a boat which left the 

 ship was lost. A few days afterwards, however, when the gates of Gibral- 

 tar were opened in the morning, the ass presented himself for admittance, 

 and proceeded to the stable of Mr Weeks, a merchant, which he had former- 



