CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY. 



Uieir attendants on foot; when arrived at the proper places they form a circle, in order to drive them 

 into some valley, where, at full speed, they throw the noose, and endeavour to halter them. The asses, 

 finding themselves inclosed, make furious efforts to escape, and if only one forces his way through, they 

 all follow with irresistible im|>etuosity. When noosed, the hunters throw them down and secure them 

 with fetters, and thus leave them till the chase is over. Then, in order to bring them away more 

 easily, they pair them with tame asses; yet so fierce are they that they often wound the persons who 

 at lent] it to manage them. 



They have all the swiftness of horses, and neither declivities nor precipices can retard their course. 

 When attacked, they defend themselves, by means of their heels and mouth, with such address, that 

 without slackening their pace they often maim their pursuers. But it is remarkable that, after 

 carrying their first load, their dangerous ferocity is lost ; even their celerity leaves them, and the}- soon 

 contract a dull and stupid appearance. These animals will not permit a horse to live among them. 

 They always feed together, and if a horse happen to stray into a place where they graze, they fall upon 

 him, and, without giving him a chance of flying, bite and kick him till they leave him dead on the spot. 







THE ASS OF POITIERS. 



More hardy than horses, these animals were long preferred to them for journeys across the deserts. 

 Most of the Mussulman pilgrims used them in their long and laborious journeys to Mecca ; and the 

 chiefs of the Nubian caravans, which were sixty days in passing immense solitudes, rod* upon asses, 

 and these, on arriving in Egypt, did not appear fatigued. When the rider alighted he had no occasion 

 to fasten his ass ; he merely pulled the rein of the bridle tight, and passed it over a ring in the fore 

 !>:ii-t of the saddle ; this confined the animal's head, and was sufficient to induce him to remain quietly 

 in his place. 



'I lie countenance of the ass so common with us is mild and modest, and in full accordance with 

 his simple deportment. The rural lanes and high roads are his nightly residence, and his food the 

 thistle or the plantain, which he sometimes prefers to grass. In his drinking he is, however, singularly 

 nice, refusing all but the water of the clearest brooks. He is much afraid of wetting his feet, and 

 will, even when loaded, turn aside, to avoid the dirty parts of the road. He is more healthy than the 

 hoise. ;niu, tlioii^l, generally degraded into the most neglected and useless of domestic quadrupeds, he 



t, by care and education, be rendered available for a variety of purposes. 



