ORDEE OF PAOHYDERMATA. 215 



in fact, lose all in consequence of tte treatment which he receives. 

 He is too frequently the plaything, the hutt, and the drudge of 

 his owner, who drives him, beats him, overloads him, and tires 

 him out, without care and withoiit mercy. There seems to be no 

 attention paid to the fact that the Ass would be the best and 

 most useful of animals, if there had been no such animal in the 

 world as the Horse." 



While the Horse is full of pride, impetuosity, and ardour, the 

 Ass is mild, humble, and patient, and bears with resignation the 

 most cruel treatment. Most abstemious in its habits, it is content 

 with the coarsest herbage, which other beasts will not touch, even 

 such as thistles and weeds. A small quantity of water is sufficient 

 for it, but this it requires pure and clear. It will not, like the 

 Horse, wallow in mud or water ; and as its master too often 

 forgets to groom it, it performs this duty by rolling itself on the 

 turf or the heather when opportunity offers. It has sharp-sight, 

 an excellent sense of smell, and an ear of keen acuteness. If it 

 is laden too heavily it remonstrates by drooping its head and 

 lowering its ears. " When it is teased," says Buffon, " it opens 

 its mouth and draws back its lips in a disagreeable manner, giving 

 it a m.ocking and derisive air." 



The Ass walks, trots, and gallops like the Horse, but all its 

 movements are shorter and slower. Whatever pace it employs, 

 if too hardly pressed, it soon becomes tired ; if not hurried, it is 

 most enduring. It sleeps less than the Horse, and never lies 

 down for this purpose except when worn out with fatigue. Buffon 

 says that it never utters its long and discordant cry, which passes 

 in inharmonious succession from sharp to flat and from flat to 

 sharp, except when hungry, or desirous of expressing amorous 

 feelings. 



Attaching itself readily and sincerely, it scents its master from 

 afar, and distinguishes him from all other persons, manifesting 

 joy when he approaches. It recognises without difficulty the 

 locality which it inhabits, and the roads which it has frequented. 

 When young, it cannot fail to please by its gaiety, activity, and 

 gracefulness ; but age and ill-treatment soon render it dull, slow, 

 and headstrong. 



The Ass carries the heaviest weight in proportion to its size 

 of all beasts of burthen; it costs little or nothing to keep, and 



