296 STUDIES IN THE FIELD AND FOREST. 



idea of his habits and to make his true character 

 apparent to the mind. 



Among the animals mentioned by certain writers as 

 possessing in an eminent degree those qualities which 

 appertain to the picturesque, is the ass. This point in 

 his character is attributed very erroneously to his shaggy 

 and uncouth appearance. It may assist in heightening 

 the expression of the animal ; but there are various ro 

 mantic and poetical ideas associated with his figure, to 

 which this quality is mainly attributable. If it were 

 owing to his rude and rough exterior, the baboon and 

 the hyena would be as picturesque as the ass. No such 

 ideas, however, are associated with these animals. The 

 ass derives much of this character from his connection 

 with the incidents of romance and history. He is the 

 beast of burden most frequently mentioned in the Old 

 Testament, in the Fables of ^Esop, and in the writings 

 of oriental travellers. As Dugald Stewart has observed, 

 we associate him with the old patriarchs in their jour 

 neys to new lands ; and we have often seen him form 

 ing an important figure in old paintings and engravings. 

 It is not his shaggy coat and uncouth appearance that 

 yield him his picturesque character, so much as the in 

 teresting scenes and adventures with which his figure is 

 associated. 



The same remarks may be applied with equal pro 

 priety to the goat. He is the animal of mountain 

 scenery, and the sight of him suggests a variety of ro 

 mantic incidents, connected with such landscape. He 

 is often represented as standing on precipitous heights, 

 and browsing upon dangerous declivities. He is in fact 

 one of the dumb heroes of dangerous adventure. With 

 the inhabitants of mountainous countries, as among 

 the Alps and the Highlands of Scotland, the goat is 



