72 A Walk from 



and hair as soft and sleek as the fur of a Maltese cat ; 

 with contented face, and hopeful and happy eyes, show- 

 ing that he has a kind master. 



The donkey is really a useful and valuable animal, 

 which might be introduced into America with great 

 advantage to our farmers. I know of no animal of its 

 size so tough and strong. It is astonishing, as well as 

 shocking, to see what loads he is made to draw here. 

 The vehicle to which he is usually harnessed is a heavy, 

 solid affair, frequently as large as our common horse- 

 carts. He is put to all kinds of work, and is almost 

 exclusively the poor man's beast of burden and travel. 

 In cities and large towns, his cart is loaded with the 

 infinitely- varied wares of street trade; with cabbages, 

 fish, fruit, or with some of the thousand-and-one nick- 

 nacks that find a market among the masses of the 

 common people. At watering-places, or on the " com- 

 mons " or suburban playgrounds of large towns, he is 

 brought out in a handsome saddle, or a well-got-up 

 little carriage, and let by the hour or by the ride to 

 invalid adults, or to children bubbling over with life. 

 Here, although the everlasting club, to which he is 

 born, is wielded by his driver, he often looks comfort- 

 able and sleek, and sometimes wears a red ribbon at 

 each ear. It would not pay to bring on to the ground 

 the scrawny, bony creature that generally tugs in the 



