HORSES. 513 



account of its milk ; and it is stated that in one district of Equatorial Africa large 

 droves of these animals are kept solely for the sake of their milk. A peculiarity 

 in the disposition of the ass, is its reluctance to cross even the smallest stream of 

 water ; this aversion being doubtless a direct inheritance from its desert-haunting 

 wild ancestors. 



IB 



DOMESTIC ASS. 



The term mule is strictly applicable only to the hybrid between 



the male ass and the mare ; the product of the union of the opposite 



sexes of these two species being known as the hinny. Mules, although they 



frequently display the stubbornness and obstinacy of the ass in an intensified 



degree, are for some purposes more valuable than either of their parents, being 



very sure-footed and with great powers of endurance. Some of the finest mules are 



bred in Spain, the United States, and North- Western India, where they frequently 



attain the height of 16 hands. In Spain they are generally employed to carry 



burdens, and march in long droves, following in single file a leader distinguished 



VOL. ii. 33 



