CHAPTER XIX. 



The Ass and Mule. 



THE ASS. 



This animal belongs to the same natural genus as the 

 horse, and has been under the dominion of man from the 

 earliest ages of which we have any account. Indeed, 

 he seems to have been sooner domesticated than the 

 horse ; for we find asses mentioned in the twelfth 

 chapter of Genesis, as domesticated, 1920 years before 

 the Christian era, although nothing is said of the 

 horse. 



In early times, the ass was not, as Is now the case 

 with us, considered a despicable animal ; for we find 

 that he was rode by the rich and noble in preference 

 to the horse, as will appear from the following in- 

 stances, which we select from many that are recorded 

 in the sacred writings : — When Abraham went to 

 offer his son Isaac, he rode upon an ass : Joseph's 

 brethren rode on asses when they went down to 

 Egypt to purchase corn ; and we are told that when 

 Moses left Jethro, his father-in-law, he took his wife 

 and his sons, and set them upon asses, and returned 

 to Egypt. In the enumeration of Job's property, 

 which appears to have been very great, we find that 

 he had five hundred she-asses ; and In his prosperity 

 he is said to have had a thousand. It is probable 

 that the preference given to she-asses arose from the 



