THE HORSES— ASSES. 



417 



!eft long and various designs and arabesques are cut 

 in it, giving the animal quite a peculiar aspect. 



In former times half-wild Asses were found on 

 some islands of the Grecian archipelago and in Sar- 

 dinia, and even now they are to be found in South 

 America. Wherever individuals of the species es- 

 cape from the restraint and training of Alan, they 

 soon revert to all the habits of their wild progeni- 

 tors. 



The preceding data have already indicated the 

 extensive range of the Ass. The eastern part of 

 western and central Asia, northern and eastern 

 Africa, south and central Europe and South Amer- 

 ica are the countries in which it thrives best. The 

 drier the soil the better its health and development. 

 Damp and cold agree less with it than with the 

 Horse. 



Importance of the Riding on Donkeys is probably no- 

 Donhey in where so much in vogue as in Egypt. 

 Egypt. The. willing animals are really indis- 



pensable as a complement of the conveniences and 

 comforts of life in all greater cities. They are hired 

 in the same way that our cabs are, and therefore no 

 dignity is forfeited by employing them. Such condi- 

 tions are brought about by the nar- 

 rowness of Egyptian streets, that 

 Donkeys alone are fit to render 

 easy and practicable the necessary 

 journeys one takes about town. 

 Therefore they are seen every- 

 where, as for instance in Cairo, 

 mingling with the continuous 

 stream of people filling the streets. 

 The Donkey drivers of Cairo con- 

 stitute a distinct profession, a gen- 

 uine caste, which forms as much 

 an integral part of the city as do 

 the minarets and palms. They are 

 indispensable to the natives and to 

 foreigners; every day a person lives 

 in Cairo he has occasion to be 

 thankful to them, although at the 

 same time they frequently arouse 

 one's ire. " It is a genuine pleasure 

 and a real misery," says Bogumil 

 Goltz, "to deal with these Donkey 

 boys. One is at a loss to decide 

 whether they are good-natured or 

 morose, obstinate or obliging, lazy 

 or active, cunning or impudent; 

 they are a mixture of all possi- 

 ble qualities. 



"'Look, sir,' says one, 'see this 

 locomotive of a Donkey, which I 

 offer you, and compare it with 

 those of the other boys ! Why, they 

 must fall down under you; for they 

 are miserable creatures and you are 

 a stout man! But my Donkey! He 

 will run away with you like a Gazelle, in pure play.' 

 'This is a Donkey of Kahirin," says another. 'His 

 grandfather was a Gazelle, and his great-grand- 

 mother a wild Horse. Run, you son of Kahirin, 

 prove my words to the gentleman! Be a credit to 

 your parents: go in the Lord's name, my Gazelle, my 

 Swallow!' The third does still better, praising his 

 Donkey as a Bismarck or a Von Moltke of his spe- 

 cies, and so on, until the visitor mounts a Donkey, 

 which is then urged into a gallop by a series of 

 inimitable jerks, blows, pushes, and pricks adminis- 

 tered with the goad, and the boy runs after, calling, 



screaming, urging, chattering — abusing his own 

 lungs as much as he does the Donkey. Thus the 

 rider is hurried through the crowd of animals, street 

 carts, loaded Camels, carriages and walking people, 

 and the Donkey never loses courage for a moment, 

 but rushes on at a very agreeable gallop, until he 

 has reached his destination. Cairo is a veritable 

 training school at which to accustom one to the use 

 of Donkeys, and the only place where one learns to 

 fully know, appreciate, esteem and love this excel- 

 lent creature." 

 Traits and Capabil- Oken's words apply perfectly to 



ities of Tame the north European Ass, however: 

 Asses. "The tame Donkey has degenerated 



to such an extent through prolonged ill-treatment 

 that it has lost nearly all resemblance to the parent 

 stock. Not only has it become much smaller, but it 

 has also a duller, ashy color and longer, flabbier ears. 

 Courage in it has turned to obstinacy, speed to slow- 

 ness, vivacity to dullness, love of liberty to patience, 

 sturdiness to endurance of blows." 



All the perceptive senses of the tame Ass are well 

 developed. Hearing ranks highest ; sight comes 

 next and then smell; it seems to possess little ner- 



AFRICAN WILD 



shown in the picture. It 

 the marked black stripes 



ASS. In the northern part of Africa is found, in it: 



is a symmetrical, active animal of a uniform reddish cream tinge except for 

 placed along the back and transversely across the shoulders. (Equus asi- 



vous sensibility, and the sense of taste is probably 

 also not particularly well developed, else it certainly 

 would be more exacting in its diet than the Horse. 

 Scheitlin tells us that its mental capacities are not 

 so slight as is generally believed. It has an excel- 

 lent memory and easily finds its way again over 

 any road which it has once traveled; m spite of its 

 stupid looks, it is sometimes possessed of no small 

 cunning; neither is it always so good-natured as 

 people think. Occasionally it even displays an 

 abominable viciousness. It may suddenly stop on 

 the road, oblivious of blows, and may even throw 



