TIIK DOMESTIC ASS. L'i!? 



had sought tin; :iss ; ami they had scarce either eaten ordnmk till they met." The same feelings were 

 reciprocated between an old man who, some years ago, si. Id vegetables iu London, and (lie donkey tli.-a 

 carried his baskets from door to door. Frequently did he give the sagacious creature a handful of 

 hay, or some pieces of bread, by way of refreshment or reward. One day his kind treatment was 

 remarked, and he was asked if his beast were apt to be stubborn / " All, master," he replied, "it is of 

 no use to be cruel ; and, as for stubbornness, I cannot complain, for he is ready to do anything or go 

 anywhere. I bred him myself. He is sometimes skittish iflid playful, and once ran away from me. 

 You will hardly believe it, but there were more than fifty people after him, attempting in vain to stop 

 him ; yet he turned back of himself, and never stopped till he ran his head kindly into my 

 bosom." 



Shameful is it, then, when so sagacious and fond a creature is treated, as it often is, with g> 

 cruelty. A benevolent writer observes : "I have often felt inexpressible anguish when, during a ti-m- 

 porary stay at a watering-place, I have witnessed the habits of cruelty induced in children, by tin- in- 

 discriminate license given to every heedless requisition of caprice and passion on living nature, by the 

 unrestrained indulgence of acts of barbarity. For the pastime of every little lordling of the creation, 

 whom the fondness of anxious parents, or the easiness of unreflecting ones, brings to the sea-side, the, 

 horse, the ass, is instantly called to his door. It appears in a suffering state bleeding, lame, blind 

 no matter, the ready driver assures him it is perfectly at its ease, that though it cannot stand it will go 

 like the light. The exhausted animal being slow to move, the young rider is told that it is sulky, and 

 then, both rider and driver will proceed to cure its obstinacy with their blows." We enter our protest, 

 against all such cruelty, not only for the sake of the animals, but of those who so heedlessly practice it, 

 or who allow it to be perpetrated. The injury to those who do the wrong is incalculable. Inland 

 watering-places, as Malvern, and sea-bathing places, as Margate, Ramsgate, and Scarborough, have all 

 their stands of donkeys, for both sexes, and all ages. At one of these celebrated spots a visitor might 

 ride the " Royal Duke of Wellington," and have a companion borne by the " Royal Jemry Liiid." 

 But we ask for the humblest, as well as the most celebrated of the race, kindly treatment. 



The hotels of Cairo are still beset with donkeys and their drivers. The animals are indispensable, 

 for no one thinks of walking many yards in Egypt. In the middle ol the day the heat forbids it, ;is 

 well as mud, dust, and crowds of people, riding and on foot. As soon as the visitor appears at the 

 lour, some two or three dozen drivers and their donkeys bear down upon him. Every voice rises to 

 its highest pitch, blending the sounds : " Berry good donkey, master ; " " Berry handsome donkey ; " 

 " Dis your donkey, master;" " Had dis donkey before, master;" " Donkey fall down i Oh, no, master ! 

 Go like steamer." 



These animals arc mostly not only shorn, but shaven, though usually parts of the legs are left 

 untouched, by way of ornament. That they should be closely clipped, or still more closely shaved, is 

 absolutely mvessarv. as vermin are thickly harboured if the hair is allowed to grow. All have stirrups 

 and wide stuffed saddles covered with carpet. 



" The donkey bovs," says Gadsby, " seem not to comprehend the possibility of their hirers want ing 

 to halt anywhere short of the given goal ; so that though I was anxious to look about me on one or 

 two occasions, I found it entirely out of my power to do so, for gallop onward I must. Indeed, I 

 a donkey in Egypt means to gallop, for each attendant is determined to make his animal show the 

 others the way, if he can ; therefore sticks are in constant requisition, and the cries of 'selhi' (quick) 

 perpetual. It must not be supposed, however, that the dri vers treat their donkeys cruelly. On the 

 contrary, they are exceedingly fond of them. Nor must an Egyptian donkey-gallop be compared with 

 a:i Knglish donkey-gallop. So far from that, it is quite a luxury. The amblings of these creatures 

 are most graceful I saw one which had just been sold, as I was told, to go to America, and for 

 which 75 had been paid." 



As the milk of the female ass contains much saccharine matter, and little butter, it i-an be 

 digested b\ tender stomaehs, unable to assimilate the richer milk of the cow. Of its service to person-* 

 of delicate habits there can be no doubt, and .Dr. Waleot (Peter Pindar) only called it in question 

 when recommended by Dr. Geach, for the purpose of dispatching the following epigram : 



" And, doctor, do you really think 

 That ass's milk I ought to ihiijk ? 



