ASS. 101 



are generally so decrepid, as to perform no services 

 whatever to their owner. The flesh of the Horse is 

 eaten in several parts of Asia. The Calmuc Tartars 

 live almost wholly upon it. They likewise drink the 

 milk of the mare, and make of it both butter and 

 cheese. The hair of these animals is of use in the manu- 

 facture of numerous articles, and the skins are made 

 into leather. In the Ottoman empire, the grand vizier 

 is always preceded by standards formed of Horses' tails, 

 each surmounted with a gilded ball ! This became the 

 military ensign of the Ottomans, from the following sin- 

 gular circumstance. One of their generals having had 

 great difficulty in rallying his troops, who had been so 

 unfortunate as to lose all their standards, thought, in the 

 emergency of the occasion, of this device ; to cut off the 

 tail of one of the Horses, and erect it on the point of 

 a spear. The soldiers flocked to it, gallantly charged 

 their enemy, and their exertions were at last crowned 

 with victory. 



Ass. In a wild, savage state, the Ass inhabits the 

 mountainous deserts of Great Tartary ; from whence it 

 migrates, during winter, into India and Persia. It is 

 likewise found in the south of India, in Natolia, Syria, 

 Arabia, and Africa. These animals feed together in im- 

 mense troops ; and are pursued and killed by the inhabit- 

 ants of those countries, chiefly on account of their flesh, 

 which is in great request by them as food. Being ex- 

 cessively fond of salt, they are usually found collected 

 in places where there are salt-springs ; and their favour- 

 ite food is the saltest and the bitterest plants of the 

 deserts. If caught, they are easily tamed. Doomed, as 

 this animal is, in our countries, to neglect and contempt, 



