170 PACHYDERMATA. 



purposes more than the horse. They seem to have looked upon 

 the horse as rather fitted for war and scenes of pomp and state. 

 The ancients were ignorant of the art of shoeing the horse s hoof 

 with iron, and found it more easily injured by travel on hard 

 roads and by long journeys than the harder hoof of the Ass. The 

 hoofs of horses were usually protected b*y sandals of thick close 

 felt. From time immemorial, the ass has, in Oriental countries, 

 been the servant of man, and its introduction into Europe and 

 this country must be regarded as comparatively recent. Though 

 out of its native climes, it seems strong, patient and hardy, still 

 it is much different from the animal of the East. Here it is dull 

 and slow, small and clumsy; there it is larger, well made, light, 

 footed with a sprightly pace, and carries its head high. White 

 asses were in ancient times highly valued. Upon them those 

 rode who sat in judgment, Judges, v. 10; and our Saviour, too, 

 appears to have honored this animal by riding &quot; upon the foal of 

 an ass upon which never man sat.&quot; Mark, xi. 3. Asses made 

 no inconsiderable part of the wealth of the Hebrew patriarchs. 

 The MULE is a mixed breed between the horse and the ass, an 

 animal not much sought after among us, but extensively used in 

 the East for riding, and in Spain is the chief beast of burden. 

 It is very strong and sure footed, and is for that reason employed 

 in the Andes of South America instead of the Llama, and also 

 used in other mountainous countries. 



E. asinus onager, or onagga. The KOULAN or WILD Ass is 

 of a pale reddish color in the warmer season, in the winter gray 

 ish. It is found abundantly in Mesopotamia and Persia, and on 

 the shores of the Indus. Bishop Hebersaysno attempt has ever 

 been made to break in the wild Ass for riding. The ears are 

 two inches longer in the male than in the female. In the tame 

 species the ears are elongated and acute, but in this and the 

 other wild species are moderately short and rounded. 

 E. asinus hemionus. The DIZIGGUETAI. 



The name Dizigguetai, given to this species, has been spelled 

 in seven or eight different ways. It is said to refer, in the Mori, 

 gol language, to the large ears of this animal, which exceed in 

 size those of a horse. This species are found in Oriental Tar- 

 tary, and the wild regions of China and Persia. This is the 

 wild ass of Scripture. &quot; Who hath sent out the wild ass free ? 

 or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? Whose house I 

 have made the wilderness and the barren land his dwellings. 

 The range of the mru itains is his pasture, and he searcheth af. 

 ter every green thing.&quot; Job, xxxix chapt. 



The Dizigguetai, or Dziggtai, is in size intermediate between 



