462 



THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. 



BOOK III. 



To this it may be added, that he appears to be exempt not only from 

 most of the contagious disorders often so fatal to other cattle, but from 

 the greater number of all ailments ; that he will undergo great fatigue ; 

 and that he is very long-lived. It may, however, be doubted whether 

 his qualification, as a beast of draught, will often introduce him into 

 farmers' teams ; but, as a beast of burthen, he may be rendered ex- 

 tremely useful, in clearing green crops from land that will not allow of 

 carts in a wet season, and in many other things about a farm, more 

 especially in hoeing. 



There are two, almost distinct, varieties of the ass : the one grey ; 

 the other brown, and sometimes approaching to black. The former is 

 the larger and the stronger, but he is also the more dull, and seems to 



Fig. 99. The Ass. 



merit much of the character for stupidity unjustly attributed to the 

 whole race. The latter is of a light and even handsome form, and lively 

 disposition, and is particularly suited to the saddle, for which purpose 

 he is very generally used in Portugal and Spain, where he is bred of a 

 very large size ; but he there wears a very different appearance from 

 that of the wretched animals often so shamefully used at our fashion- 

 able watering-places. He is first saddled with a pack, which covers 

 the entire back from the shoulder to the loins, and is raised and peaked 

 upwards at the pommel, to prevent the weight of the rider from pressing 

 forward ; on this a smaller cushion is laid, and secured by a kind of 

 arm-chair, with legs curving round the sides of the saddle, and having 

 a small hanging-board instead of a stirrup, to rest both the feet the 

 lady sitting sideways. The entire caparison is covered with cloth, or 

 velvet, or morocco leather, of the gayest colours, and the breast-plate 

 and bridle being embroidered in parti-coloured worsted, the whole, 

 when placed upon a well-fed and well-broken-in brown male ass, forms 

 a set-out that is very far from being contemptible. 



