248 THE ASS'S BRAY 



song. Alas! I do not know the monkey people in 

 a state of nature, and I must again confine myself 

 to my proper limits — to the creatures I do know. 

 Coming to these, I can only say that the highest 

 musical performance in the mammalian order known 

 to me is the bray of an ass. This is not a mere 

 call or cry like the shrill neigh of the horse and 

 wrathful mutterings and prolonged clear crescendo 

 lowing of the bull; it is uttered by the animal for 

 its own sake when he is in the mood, and is there- 

 fore as truly a set song as the liquid warbling of 

 the woodlark or the little-bit-of-bread-and-no-cheese of 

 the yellow-hammer. A song no doubt evolved from 

 various ancient equine cries and calls — a resounding 

 trumpet blast, followed by measured hee-haws, and 

 concluding with a series of prolonged stertorous and 

 sibilant sounds, diminishing in power till they cease. 

 Heard in the proper surroundings, as I have heard 

 it from the wild or semi-wild animals in a practi- 

 cally desert district, at a distance of half a mile, 

 more or less, it is a notable performance that startles 

 and fascinates the listener with its wildness and 

 strange character. 



The effect of the sound is enhanced when you 

 catch sight of the animal, standing at ease in a 

 group, grey amidst the tall grey-green plumed 

 grasses, their great ears erect or pointing forward, 

 and alarm in their faces — a noble animal, horse- 

 shaped but with a distinction of its own, an element 

 of strangeness in its beauty. 



Fine as was the sight of these semi-feral asses, 



