THE MULES. 345 



time of the first kings of Israel, and is frequently 

 mentioned in the Scriptures and in Persian history. 

 In the district of Zobeir, or Old Bussorah, the an- 

 cient habitation of Orchrenian magi, and not far from 

 the west bank of the Lower Euphrates, there is still 

 a race of white asses anciently renowned, as well as 

 the breed of similarly coloured mules, reared with 

 attention, and the most beautiful in form that are 

 known. In antiquity, the sons of kings rode them, 

 and old princes put them in the traces of their 

 chariots. In the time of the caliphs of Bagdad, 

 they sold for eighty or more pieces of gold, according 

 to Abdulatif. They continued to be bought at high 

 prices for the use of Moslem chiefs, of heads of the 

 law, civil and religious. 



The common grey mule of Egypt and Barbary is 

 a handsome, docile, and in general a large animal, 

 much used by merchants, Jews, and Christians, 

 who, until very recently, were denied the privilege 

 of riding horses. In Auvergnc and the south of 

 France and Spain, partially supplied from beyond 

 the Pyrenees, the race is in general black, large, and 

 robust. It is the fashion to shave their skins in 

 summer, and their tails are often clipped in a suc- 

 cession of tassels like a bell-rope. So late as tl.'c 

 reign of Louis XIV. the medical men of Paris still 

 rode mules. In Spain they continue to serve, be- 

 cause they are sure-footed and cautious, in travers- 

 ing i.iountain precipices and stony roads with a 

 rider or with merchandise upon their backs, and 

 have an easy pace. In Italy the dun-coloured breed 



