204* HISTORY OF 



we went to the original stock from whence both 

 have been supposed to be sprung. The wild ani- 

 mals of both kinds would, in such a case, resem- 

 ble each other much more than those of the tame 

 kind, upon whom art has for a succession of ages 

 been exercising all its force, and producing strange 

 habits and new alterations. The contrary, how- 

 ever, obtains, and the wild ass is even more assi- 

 nine, if I may so express it, than that bred in a 

 state of domestic servitude ; and has even a natu- 

 ral aversion to the horse, as the reader will short- 

 ly learn. 



The wild ass has by some writers been con- 

 founded with the zebra, but very improperly, for 

 they are of a very different species. The wild ass 

 is not streaked like the zebra, nor is his shape so 

 beautiful : his figure is pretty much the same as 

 that of the common ass, except that he is of a 

 brighter colour, and has a white list running from 

 his head to his tail. This animal is found wild in 

 many islands of the Archipelago, particularly in 

 that of Cerigo. There are many wild asses in the 

 deserts of Libya and Numidia, that run with such 

 amazing swiftness that scarcely even the coursers 

 of the country can overtake them. When they 

 see a man, they set up a horrid braying, and stop 

 short all together, till he approaches near them ; 

 they then, as if by common consent, fly off with 

 great speed ; and it is upon such occasions that 

 they generally fall into the traps which are previ- 

 ously prepared to catch them. The natives take 

 them chiefly upon account of their flesh, which 

 they esteem as delicious eating ; and for their 



