248 Mr. E. Blyth on the different Animals known as Wild Asses, 
colour, but silvery-grey on the ridge of the back and nose, with 
the forehead, neck, and sides of a beautiful pale ash with a tinge 
of purple; the mane, tail, and cruciform streak black *.” 
These I take to be choice specimens of the fine Levantine 
breed of domestic Asses, such as are often represented in antique 
Egyptian paintings, and always with the black crucial mark. 
From the remotest times it seems that two races of domestic 
Asses were known in Egypt, and both are represented in the 
old paintings. In modern times, Russell (in his ‘ Natural History 
of Aleppo,’ p. 58) remarks that the Levantine nations have two 
principal breeds of Asses: “one very large, with remarkably 
long ears; the other small, and much like ours in England.” 
Chardin, again, tells us that there are two races of the domestic 
Ass in Persia: “ Les Anes du pais, qui sont lents et pesans, 
comme les Anes de nos pais, dont ils ne se servent qu’a porter 
des fardeaux; et une race d’Anes d’Arabie, qui sont de fort 
jolies bétes, et les premiers Anes du monde. [Ils ont le poil 
poli, la téte haute, les pieds légers, les levant avec action en 
marchant. L’on ne s’en sert que pour montures: les selles 
qu’on leur met sont comme des bats ronds, et plats par dessus, 
faites de drap ou de tapisserie, avec les étriers et le harnois. 
On s’assied dessus plus vers la croupe que vers le cou. On met 
a plusieurs des harnois tout argent, tant le maitre est content de 
la légéreté et de la douceur de leur allure. Il y en a du prix de 
quatre-cens francs, et l’on n’en sauroit avoir d’un peu bons a moins 
de vingt-cing pistoles. On les panse comme les chevaux. Les 
ecclésiastiques qui ne sont pas encore dans les charges, ou dans 
les grands bénéfices, affectent 4 aller montés sur les Anes.” He 
then proceeds to explain how these fine Asses are taught to amble. 
The large and small races of Levantine Asses may be said to 
bear somewhat of the same mutual relation as Horses and Ponies. 
The small kind only have become domesticated in Northern 
Europe; and we trace them southward into Darfur, where they 
are thus described in Mr. G. Brown’s ‘ Travels’ in that country 
(1799) :— The Ass here is of the same appearance and of the 
same indocile nature as that of Great Britain. The only good 
ones are what the Jelahs bring with them from Egypt. Yet the 
animal is much used for riding; indeed, few persons mount a 
Horse but the military and those who are in immediate attend-. 
ance at court. An Egyptian Ass fetches from the value of one 
to that of three slaves, according to the weight he is able to bear. 
A slave will purchase three or four of the ordinary breed ; and 
yet the people are not anxious to improve them.” 
_ The Asses of Upper Egypt, according to Sounini, are parti- 
cularly handsome, but they degenerate towards the Delta. 
* Naturalist’s Library, xii. 312. 
