THE ASS. 207 



remarkably fierce that they often hurt the persons 

 who undertake to manage them. They have all 

 the swiftness of horses, and neither declivities nor 

 precipices can retard their career. When attack- 

 ed, they defend themselves with their heels and 

 mouth with such activity, that without slackening 

 their pace they often maim their pursuers. But 

 the most remarkable property in these creatures 

 is, that after carrying their first load, their cele- 

 rity leaves them, their dangerous ferocity is lost, 

 and they soon contract the stupid look and dull- 

 ness peculiar to the assinine species. It is also 

 observable, that these creatures will not permit a 

 horse to live among them. They always feed to- 

 gether ; and if a horse happens to stray into the 

 place where they graze, they all fall upon him, 

 and without giving him the liberty of flying, they 

 bite and kick him till they leave him dead upon 

 the spot. 



Such is this animal in its natural state, swift, 

 fierce, and formidable : but, in his state of tame- 

 ness, the ass presents a very different picture ; the 

 moment his native liberty is repressed, he seems 

 entirely to give up all claims to freedom, and he 

 assumes a patience and submission even humbler 

 than his situation. He is, in a state of tameness, 

 the most gentle and quiet of all animals. He suf- 

 fers with constancy, and perhaps with courage, 

 all the ill treatment that cruelty and caprice are 

 pleased to inflict. He is temperate with regard 

 to the quantity and the quality of his provision. 

 He is contented with the most neglected weeds, 

 and makes his humble repast upon what the horse 



