Mr. E. Blyth on the different Animals known as Wild Asses, 249 
Fraser states that the Asses of Oman are the best in Arabia, 
and individuals of the best breeds sell for extravagant prices *, 
In Munro’s ‘Syria’ we are told that the Asses of Damascus 
stand fourteen hands high; and elsewhere he remarks of one of 
them, “This Ass was the finest of the kind I ever saw ; and the 
guide asserted that he would sell for more than both his own 
Horses. With all the animation and temper of a Horse, he had 
the superior qualification of being quicker and easier in his 
walk. .. . This Ass was found, after a long journey, to refuse 
his food. On visiting him, after supper, I found that the Ass 
was not eating, and seemed out of spirits. The guide accounted 
for this by saying that he was in the habit of living in the house 
with his master, and that he was alarmed at being left in the 
dark by himself; wherefore I ordered him into the shed, and 
his supper being placed near the fire, he fell upon it with great 
avidity, and had no sooner finished, than he claimed a right to 
belong to the society, by lyimg down amongst us, to my great 
amusement, and the infinite chagrin of my companions, who 
would have turned him out but for my interference. During 
the night he became restless, and got up in order to lie down on 
his other side; in doing which he interfered with the guide’s 
legs, whom I found abusing him for being a pig and an infidel, 
and threatening to spit on his beard.” 
In Irwin’s ‘ Memoir of Afghanistan, we are informed that 
* the Ass gradually improves as we proceed westward from the 
Company’s provinces. Perhaps the best are those from the west 
of Khorassan; but even these are much inferior to the Arabian 
or the Spanish. Asses are imported from Kabul into Bokhara 
and the north-west of Turkistén.” Buckingham tells us that 
“one of the peculiarities of Baghdad is its race of white Asses, 
which, as at Cairo, are saddled and bridled for the conveyance 
of passengers from one part of the town to another; and these 
are equally as large and spirited as the Egyptian Ass, and have 
as easy and speedy a pace. They are frequently spotted over 
with colours, and otherwise fantastically marked over with red 
henna-stains.” 
At Peshawar, tame Asses of the large race are known as 
* Bokhara Asses” ; and Sir A. Burnes, writing on the domestic 
animals of Bokhdara, remarks, “ None are more useful than the 
Ass; the breed is large and sturdy, and they are much used, 
both for saddle and bridle. There is no objection to riding them, 
as in India. There are no mules, from a religious prejudice 
* I have somewhere read that the pedigrees of the best Asses of Oman 
are kept with as much care as those of the choicest breeds of horses in the 
same province. 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. vi. 17 
