A QUEER ANIMAL 325 



of cane which trailed along the ground on either side and 

 behind him. The butts protruded beyond his head, so 

 that only from the front could you perceive the motive 

 power of the curious mass. From the side naught was to 

 be seen but an occasional ear thrust out from the 

 moving bulk ; the rest of the donkey was lost. About 

 dark, one day near the Damascus gate at Jerusalem, I saw 

 a still more curious one. While musing on the mutability 

 of human, the degradation of Semitic affairs, and seek- 

 ing to decide the pros and cons of Gordon's New Calvary, 

 a donkey suddenly appeared to me, coming from the 

 slaughtering ground opposite the Mount of Olives, laden 

 with fresh sheep-hides, wool side out. The little beast had 

 but his head protruding from the quivering, bloody mass ; 

 you could just catch sight of his pattering feet. In the 

 gloaming he was actually a startling creature, and all but 

 gave me a tumble from the wall on which I sat. Even 

 Cuvier, father of naturalists, could scarce have classified 

 and might properly have fled from him as a truly supernat- 

 ural entity though, indeed, Cuvier is credited with once 

 readily classifying the devil. It was thus : His pupils, in- 

 credulous as to their master's alleged contempt of his 

 Satanic Majesty, had dressed up one of their number as 

 like him as they could, had phosphorus-streaked and armed 

 him with the proper sheol pitchfork and other properties, 

 and had sent him into the philosopher's garden one night to 

 scare him. " Who are you T quoth Cuvier, as the appari- 

 tion leaped out from behind a bush. "I'm the devil and 

 I've come to eat you !" howled the fiend, with a dreadful 

 stage-caper. Startled for an instant, Cuvier quickly re- 

 covered himself, and contemptuously looking the soi disant 

 devil over from head to foot : " Horns, tail, hoofs grami- 

 nivorous; you can't do it!" said he, and turned upon his 

 heel. Unlike Cuvier, with me it became a perceptible case 



