25G [Assembly 



When very young he is a gay,, sprightly, nimble and gentle crea- 

 ture, but as he grows up he soon loses these good qualities, and 

 that, in all probability, in consequence of the bad usage he meets 

 with J for he becomes lazy, untractable, stubborn. He is furious 

 when in love. The she ass is very affectionate to her young ; 

 Pliny said that one was known to rush through flames to get to 

 her colt. Notwithstanding the ill usage he gets, the ass forms a 

 great attachment to his master ; he smells him at a distance, 

 searches the places and roads which he used to frequent, and 

 really distinguishes him from other men. He has a remarkable 

 fine eye, an excellent scent and hearing. When you put too heavy 

 a load on his back he hangs down his head and ears ; if you cover 

 up his eyes he will not stir a single step further ; if you lay him 

 on the ground on his side, and cover up the upper eye with a 

 cloth while the other is on the ground, he will stay there, making 

 no attempt to get up. He walks, trots and gallops as a horse 

 does ; whatever pace he is at, if you push hinijhe instantly stops. 



Pennant mentions a mule produced a jack-ass on a zebra mare. 

 The ass, like the horse, continues to grow for three or four years, 

 and lives twenty-five to thirty years and very often more. A sin- 

 gular question is, have you ever seen a dead ass ? Singularly 

 enough a smile is excited, for upon reflection very few men ever 

 saw one. There are two kinds of the race in Persia, one is used for 

 labor and the other for the saddle. In Syria also two kinds, one 

 very large and strong, with very long ears ; both kinds are there 

 used for labor. In America, originally, there were no asses ; the 

 Spaniards brought them and horses when they came. As these 

 animals carry so heavy a burden in proportion to their bulk, as 

 their keeping cost little or nothing, it is surprising that they are 

 so little in use among us. This creature is less subject to \'^rmin 

 than other animals. The marks in the mouth are nearly the same as 

 in the horse. The Spanish mule is occasionally a really handsome 

 creature; like the Spanish lady, his feet are very small, his pace 

 active, head up. Among the great things done for his country 

 by our well beloved Henry Clay, in the farmer way, at his home, 

 is the rearing of many of the best mules in the land, some of them 

 as fine as the world ever saw, in all points, and worth larger sums 

 of money, as working creatures, than any horses, even often to 



