26 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



pleasant to recognize a good Donkey when one is seen, for it 

 undoubtedly proclaims by its very movements the kind of treatment 

 that is meted out to it. Generally regarded as a somewhat spiritless, 

 stubborn and obstinate creature, I have long since formed the 

 opinion that the Domestic Ass has been a good deal misjudged, for 

 in several instances I have noted its willingness to obey orders, and 

 have also been much struck with certain individuals whose powers 

 of intelligence were very remarkable. 



The Donkey seems to be one of those creatures which keenly resents 

 unkind and unfair handling, and those who have watched the animals 

 owned by the London costers and noted how well groomed they are, 

 and how excellently they trot along, will have had ample evidence 

 of what a change may be wrought when so-called dumb animals 

 are treated with the respect and devotion that is their due. 



An examination of the Spanish Domestic Ass and our own 

 domestic animal will reveal a striking difference in both size and 

 appearance, and whilst we in England are very fond of advertising 

 our claims to humanity and preaching about the wrongs of others, 

 it would be as well perhaps if at any rate in some instances we set 

 our own house in order first. It is a recognized fact that in Eastern 

 countries, such as Egypt, Persia, Syria and India, and also in 

 Southern European lands, such as Spain and Italy, the Ass is a 

 larger animal, better fed and more carefully tended than elsewhere. 

 As a result the owner obtains more willingness from his beast, 

 receiving, as Mr. Protheroe well says, "a corresponding good return 

 for the trouble and expenditure incurred. It is capable of a good 

 day's journey at a moderate pace, with a man on its back, and it 

 has a spirited demeanour and wide-awake manner which render it a 

 pleasant quadruped to deal with." 



In foreign lands, of course, the Ass is a much more valuable 

 creature as a beast of burden than in England, for it is wonderfully 

 sure-footed in districts which it is difficult for any other animal to 

 traverse, and where railways and motors are unknown. It is in 

 many instances the only domesticated animal that is of any lasting 

 service to those whose business it is to travel over a wide extent of 

 rough untrammelled country. In America, too, Asses are much larger 

 creatures than those found in our own land, those on the Western 

 Continent standing from fourteen to sixteen hands high. 



In Figs. 16 and 17 we have examples of the results of crossing a 

 Zebra with a Pony, and a Somali Wild Ass with a Domestic Ass. 



