246 THE DZIGGETAI. 



iiite use to the poorer classes of the community, who Deed the services 

 of a beast of burden and cannot afford to purchase or keep so expensive 

 an animal as a horse. 



It is a very great mistake to employ the name of Ass or donkey as a 

 metaphor for stupidity, for the Ass is truly one of the cleverest of our 

 domesticated animals, and will lose no opportunity of displaying his 

 capability whenever his intelligence is allowed to expand by being 

 freed from the crushing toil and the constant pain that are too often 

 the concomitants of a donkey's life. Every one who has petted a 

 favorite donkey will remember many traits of its mental capacities ; 

 for, as in the case of the domestic fool of the olden days, there is far 

 more knavery than folly about the creature. 



In the East the Ass is used even more extensively than in Europe, 

 and is generally employed for carrying burdens or for the saddle, the 

 horse being used more for ostentation or for warfare than for the mere 

 conveyance of human beings from one spot to another. 



The color of the Ass is a uniform gray, a dark streak passing along 

 the spine, and another stripe being drawn transversely across the shoul- 

 ders. In the quagga and zebra these stripes are much more extended. 

 The Wild Asses are all celebrated for their extreme fleetiiess and 

 sureness of foot, and among them the Dziggetai, Khur, or Koulan 

 deserves especial mention. 



This animal is so wonderfully swift that it cannot be overtaken even 

 by a fleet Arabian horse, and if it can get upon hilly or rocky ground, 

 _ it bids defiance to all wingless enemies. 



Not even the greyhound can follow it with 

 any hope of success when it once leaves 

 level ground. This great speed renders it 

 a favorite object of chase with the na- 

 tives of the country which it inhabits, 

 and, whether in Persia or India, it is held 

 to be the noblest of -game. Sometimes the 

 falcon is trained to aid in the chase of the 

 (S:i Z^j™ Wild Ass, but the usual method of secur- 

 ing this animal is to drive it toward rocky 

 ground, and to kill it with a rifle bullet as it stands in fancied security 

 upon some lofty crag. 



It lives in troops, descending to the plains during the winter months, 

 and returning to the cooler hills as soon as the summer begins to be un- 

 pleasantly warm. 



It is very common in Mesopotamia, and is always a most shy and 

 wary as well as swift animal. Each troop is under the command of a 

 leader, who sways his subjects with unlimited authority, and takes upon 

 himself to make all needful arrangements for their welfare. 



