THE PATIENT ASS 249 



human heart, but that he would do the next best thing 

 and give his supphcant a tough hide, unquestionabl}' knew 

 both men and donkeys. In Mexico, when two Indian 

 farmers meet, they pass the time of day, inquire for each 

 other's wives and children, and then always comes the 

 question, " How is the burro ?" Indeed, as the burro earns 

 the daily bread for the family, this is natural enough. No 

 doubt the h'mar of the East is equally considered ; but he 

 is the victim of man's heedlessness and capacity for cruelty 

 and experimenting. 



There is one queer asinine trick the Arabs have. "With 

 the notion that the Lord did not know how to make the 

 donkey's nostril, they slit it upward two or three inches 

 "to give him more room to breathe." They say, too, that 

 it improves the tone of his bray, though this may be ques- 

 tioned by all who have listened to his delectable song. 

 Still, the Arab is fairly generous to the little toiler ; there 

 are comparatively few sore -backed donkeys in Algeria, 

 Tunis, and Egypt, which speaks more for the people than 

 can be said of Ital}^ or Spain or Mexico. 



There is no question that, feeding quite apart, the ass 

 will kill any horse or mule ; and it is clear that, weight 

 for weight and load for load, he daily outdoes the camel. 

 The latter, weighing fifteen hundred pounds, carries five 

 hundred ; the ass weighs two hundred and fifty to four 

 hundred pounds, and carrying one hundred and fifty to 

 three hundred, outwalks the camel by a mile an hour. In 

 the Mexican mines, a donkey which weighs not over five 

 hundred pounds at the outside, will carry a load of ore 

 equal to his own weight out of the mine, go back empty, 

 and work all day. He is fed high to enable him to do 

 this, and does not live long ; but what other mammal can 

 equal this feat for even a week ? 



The donkey is guided by the voice, a stick, or a rope- 



