320 ILL-USING DONKEYS 



is less marked in Africa than in Southern Europe. The 

 Oriental is indolent even in his neglect or abuse, and he is 

 better-natured. On the Bulak bridge, one day, I saw an 

 Arab brushed off his donkey by the load of a passing 

 camel. He fell into deep mud, and with an aggravating 

 thump. An Italian or a Spaniard would have got up and 

 instantly taken to beating the donkey, though it was in 

 nowise the little fellow's fault. But the Arab merely 

 pulled himself together, expended a voluble Arabic ob- 

 jurgation on the owner of the camel, mounted his ass, and 

 went on with a laugh. I longed for a phonograph ; the 

 rattle of the words was so catching. 



The donkey -boys have one habit, however, which is 

 thoroughly bad. Whenever the donkey is not at work his 

 head is tied back to the saddle, and is kept there hours at a 

 time. The result is that the poor little fellow bores upon 

 the tight rein, and suffers acutely from the unchanging 

 pressure on the mouth. If he can get near a wall or a 

 tree, he will lean his poor nose hard against it as a relief 

 to the cruel pain. It is said that the practice is necessary 

 to keep him and the others about him from going on a 

 stampede, especially near water ; but the thing is over- 

 done. Hobbling would be equally easy and more effect- 

 ive. All donkeys have hard mouths as a consequence of 

 this habit. You can ride them on a loose rein, but if he 

 were determined to go you could not pull one up with a 

 windlass. 



I once had a really narrow escape with a hard-mouthed 

 ass. I Avas riding on the side of the hill which, opposite 

 Jerusalem, makes one slope of the valley of Kedron, near 

 the village of Siloah. The hill is as steep as the roof of 

 a house, and is formed of huge masses of protruding 

 rock and gigantic bowlders, on and against which the vil- 

 lage is built. So marked is the rocky nature of the hill- 



