688 The National Geographic Magazine 



The "Burro" or Donkey of Spanish America 



have I horse for every 3^ persons ; in 

 South America, i for every 7 ; in Mexico, 

 I for every 12 ; in Japan, i for every 33 ; 

 in Turkey, i for every 40; in the Philip- 

 pines, I for every 50 ; in Africa, approxi- 

 mately I for every 150; in India and 

 Southern China, i for every 200. 



The comparative absence of the horse 

 in the tropics is due chiefly to climatic 

 conditions, and in the orient to the fact 

 that the density of population prohibits 

 the utilization of land for the production 

 of his food. In his place we have, there- ' 



fore, scattered through the tropical and 

 oriental countries of the world, approxi- 

 mately 3 million camels, 10 million don- 

 keys, and 20 million buffaloes or caribao, 

 and, everywhere that horses are not avail- 

 able, the patient, slow-moving ox. 



The llama will carry from 50 to 200 

 pounds; a man, from 75 to 150 pounds; 

 the donkey, 100 to 200 pounds ; an ox, 

 150 to 200 pounds; a horse, from 200 to 

 250 pounds ; the camel, from 350 to 500 

 pounds ; the elephant, from 1,800 to 2,500 

 pounds. 



