DOMESTIC ASS OP THE EAST. 113 



wild horse. It is difficult to believe that he comes of the 

 same kind as the depressed and weary-looking ass of civili- 

 zation, the beast of burden, which has borne for so many- 

 years the jests of the scoffers. 



He lives in very numerous troops, and migrates from 

 north to south, and south to north, according to the season. 

 The Tartars employ him chiefly in the saddle. They eat 

 his flesh, preferring it to that of the wild horse. 



Even the domestic ass of the East, we may here observe, 

 differs widely from the slow, obstinate, and degraded ani- 

 mal of European notoriety. Under a favourable climate, 

 and treated with kindness and consideration, he has pre- 

 served his original vigour, sleekness, pride of aspect, and 

 haughtiness of bearing. The wealthy and illustrious do 

 not disdain to use him as a charger, or to harness him to 

 their carriages. He has a quick bright eye, a keen scent, 

 a sure foot, and a gentle but resolute aspect. He accom- 

 plishes easily from six to eight miles an hour ; and while 

 the life of the European ass seldom exceeds fifteen years, 

 that of the Asiatic counts its thirty or thirty-five. He is 

 less subject to disease than the horse, and is scarcely 

 inferior to the camel in those qualities of endurance and 

 sobriety which make the latter so valuable. 



Ass's milk is used as well as mare's milk for the produc- 

 tion of that favourite beverage of the nomad to which we 

 have already alluded, the koumis. Mr. Atkinson describes 

 the large leathern koumis sack or bottle as an indispensable 

 portion of the Mongolian equipment. Usually it measures 

 about five feet and a half in length, and four feet five 

 inches in width ; and it is provided with a tube at the 

 (710) 8 



