Asses.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



107 



■wards dispossessed him of the stall he had long been 

 accustomed to, but treated him with marked kind- 

 ness and attention." 



" During ray residence on the head-waters of the 

 Susquehana, I owned a small American horse, of 

 the name of Charlie, that was very remarkable for 

 his attachment to my own person, as well as for his 

 general good qualities. He was a great, favourite 

 with all the family 5 and being a favourite, he was 

 frequently indulged with less work and more to eat 

 than any of the' other horses on the farm. At a 

 short distance from the dwelling-house was a small 

 but luxuriant, pasture, where, during the summer, 

 Charlie was often permitted to graze. When this 

 pasture had been originally reclaimed from its wild 

 forest state, about ten years previous to the period 

 of which I am speaking, four or -five large trees of 

 the SHgai-maple species had been left standing 

 when the rest, were cut down, and means had after- 

 wards been found to prevent their being scorched 

 by the tire at the time the rest of the timber had 

 been consumed. Though remarkably fine trees of 

 their kind, they were, however, no great ornament, 

 their stems being long and bare, their heads small, 

 and by no means full of leaves— the case, generally 

 with trees that have grown up in close contact with 

 each other in the American forests. But if they 

 were no ornament, they might serve as shade-trees. 

 Beneath one of these trees Charlie used to seek 

 shelter, as well from the heat of the meridian sun, 

 as from the severe thunder-gusts that occasionally 

 ravage that part of the country. On an occasion of 

 this "sort Charlie had taken his stand close to his 

 favourite tree, his tail actually pressing against it, 

 his head and body in an exact hue with the course 

 of the wind; apparently understanding the most 

 advantageous position to escape the violence of the 

 storm, and quite at home, as it were, for he had 

 stood in the same place some scores of times. The 

 storm came on, and raged with such violence that 

 the tree under which the horse had sought shelter 

 was literally torn up by the roots. I happened to 

 be standing at a window from whence 1 witnessed 

 the whole scene. The moment Charlie heard the 

 roots giving way behind him, that is, on the con- 

 trary side of the tree from where he stood, and pro- 

 bably feeling the uprooted tree pressing against 

 his tail, he sprang forward, and barely cleared the 

 ground upon which, at the next moment, the top 

 of the huge forest free fell with such a force that 

 the crash was tremendous, for every limb and branch 

 were actually riven asunder. I have many a time 

 seen horses alarmed, nay, exceedingly frightened ; 

 but never in my life did I witness anything of the 

 sort that bore the slightest comparison to Charlie's 

 extreme terror ; and yet Charlie, on ordinary oc- 

 casions, was by no means a coward. He galloped, 

 he reared his inane and tossed his head, he stopped 

 short, and snorted wildly, and then darted off at the 

 top of his speed in a contrary direction, and then as 

 suddenly stopped and set off in another, until long 

 after the storm had considerably abated, and it was 

 not until after the lapse of some hours that he 

 ventured to reconnoitre— but that at a consider- 

 able distance— the scene of his narrow escape. For 

 that day at least his appetite had been completely 

 spoiled, for he never offered to stoop his head 

 to the ground while daylight continued. The next 

 day his apprehensions seemed somewhat abated, 

 but his curiosity had been excited to such a pitch 

 that he kept pacing from place to place, never 

 failing to halt as he passed within a moderate dis- 

 tance of the prostrate tree, gazing thereat in utter 

 bewilderment, as if wholly unable to comprehend 

 the scene he had witnessed the preceding day. 

 After this occurrence took place I kept this fa- 

 vourite horse several years, and during the summer 

 months he usually ^enjoyed the benefit of his old 

 pasture. But it was quite clear that he never for- 

 got, on any occasion, the narrow escape he had 

 had : for neither the burning rays of the noontide 

 summer sun, nor the furious raging of the thunder- 

 storm, could compel Charlie to seek shelter under 

 one of the trees that still remained standing in his 

 small pasture." 



473, 477, 502.— The Ass 

 (Equus Asiims, Linn.). It would appear, from vari- 

 ous evidence, that the ass was domesticated at an 

 earlier period than the horse : it was the beast of 

 civil life, in contradistinction to the horse, which was 

 used almost exclusively for war. In the East the 

 ass is treated with care and attention, and there its 

 appearance is very different from that of the ser- 

 viceable but neglected and undervalued beast of 

 western Europe. According to Chardin, " the asses 

 of Arabia are among the finest in the world; their 

 coat is smooth and clean ; they carry their head 

 elevated, and have fine well-formed legs, which they 

 throw out gracefully in walking or galloping. They 

 are used only for the saddle, and are imported in 

 vast numbers into Persia, where they are frequently 

 sold for four hundred livres, and being taught a kind 



of easy ambling pace, are richly caparisoned, and 

 used only by the rich and luxurious nobles." 



White asses are not uncommon, and appear an- 

 ciently to have been selected for the use of persons 

 of distinction (Fig. 477). In Syria there are three 

 or four distinct breeds of asses, of which the most 

 valued is that of Arabia.; 



Domesticated as the ass has been from the re- 

 motest antiquity, and valued as it has ever been in 

 western Asia, it was long before the animal became 

 introduced into western Europe. Aristotle states, 

 that in his time there were no asses in Pontus, Scy- 

 thia, or in the country of the Celts (modern Ger- 

 many and France) : and we know that even as late 

 as the time of Queen Elizabeth the ass was ex- 

 tremely rare in our country. 



It is a mistake to suppose that, in every part of the 

 East Ihe ass is large; there is a small but spirited 

 breed in Syria, upon which the Syrian ladies are ac- 

 customed to ride, and in western India we are assured 

 " that the asses are not much larger than good-sized 

 Newfoundland dogs. They are used in droves to 

 carry small loads of salt or grain ; they are also 

 used by the potmakers to carry their clay, and are 

 always seen, as in Europe, associated with gypsies." 

 (' Proceeds. Zoological Society,' 1837, p. 95.) It 

 is in fact principally in western Asia, the genial 

 climate of the ass, that it is held in esteem, and 

 carefully bred and reared. 



From" the accounts of travellers there would ap- 

 pear to be several species of wild ass, or Onager of 

 the ancients, and the subject is altogether in con- 

 fusion. Bruce talks of wild asses which he saw in 

 Abyssinia, but he is of little authority on matters of 

 natural history. Bell, in his ' Travels in Tartary,' 

 notices a species of wild ass resembling the ordinary 

 kind, excepting that their hair is waved white and 

 brown, like that of a tiger; an indefinite description, 

 and if applicable to a species in the deserts of Tar- 

 tary, naturalists are unacquainted with it. There is 

 the" wild ass, or Koulan, as it is called by the Tartars, 

 which is said to be of a uniform silvery grey, with 

 a broad coffee-coloured stripe extending down the 

 spine, and crossed on the shoulders by a transverse 

 band as in the domestic variety (see Fig. 473). This 

 species is regarded as the origin of the ordinary ass. 

 There is next the Ghur (Ghurkhud?) of Persia, of 

 which a detailed account occurs in Sir R. Ker Por- 

 ter's Travels (vol. i.), and which he describes as being 

 ten or twelve hands high, with a sleek coat, of a 

 reddish colour, passing on the belly and hinder parts 

 into silvery grey : the limbs were beautifully slender, 

 " the mane was short and black, as was also a tuft. 

 which terminated his tail, but no line whatever ran 

 along his back or crossed his shoulders." Moor- 

 croft, in his 'Travels in the Himalayan Provinces,' 

 describes another species under the name of the 

 Kiang (Equus Kiang), with shorter ears than the 

 wild "ass, and which he says is certainly not the 

 Gurkhor (Khur ?), or wild ass of Sindh. From this 

 the Dzigguetai, or Dzigtai (Equus Hermionus, Pal- 

 las), is again distinct ; and which is a native of 

 Mongolia and the borders of Thibet and China. Its 

 general colour is Isabella yellow, passing into white 

 on the under parts ; a dark cholocate line runs along 

 the spine. 



In South Africa Le Vaillant observed, as he states, 

 a wild ass, in large herds, of an Isabelline or pale yel- 

 low colour, which is called by the Greater Namaquas 

 the White Zebra. If Le Vaillant be correct, this 

 animal is unknown indeed ; no traveller in Africa 

 has seen it. but himself, and Colonel Hamilton Smith 

 suggests that he may have mistaken for this wild ass 

 the female of the Isabelline antelope. 



In the Cutch and Northern Goojrat there is a 

 wild ass, which Colonel Sykes identifies with the 

 Dzigguetai of southern Siberia and the Ghur of 

 Persia, considering them as one species, and observ- 

 ing that all the "discrepancies of descriptions may 

 be easily remedied by the supposition that animals 

 examined by different individuals, at different sea- 

 sons of the year, did really slightly differ owing to 

 the difference of seasons." " The wild ass of Cutch 

 and the north of Goojrat is not found farther south 

 in India than Deesa on the banks of the Bunnas 

 river, in lat. about 30° 30', nor have I heard of it to 

 the eastward of the 75° of longitude on the south 

 side of the Himalaya mountains. In Cutch and 

 Northern Goojrat it frequents the salt, deserts and 

 the open plains of Thoodpoor, Jaysulmer, and 

 Bickaneor. By swimming the Indus it may com- 

 municate through Sindh and Baloochestand with 

 Persia, and in Persia it evidently exists from Sir 

 Robert Ker Porter's descriptions : to the north and 

 east Persia abuts upon the peculiar localities of the 

 Dzigguetai, through Bucharia to the Deserts of 

 Gobi, where it delights in the salt marshes, as it 

 does in India, and thence to Tartary, Thibet, and 

 South Siberia." ('Proceeds. Zool. Soc." 1837, p. 94.) 



The wild ass is common in many parts of central 

 Asia ; herds in summer are found about the lake 

 Aral, whence they migrate southwards in winter, 

 returning northwards in the spring. The Persians 



and Tartars hold its flesh in high esteem, and hunt 

 it in preference to all other descriptions of game. 

 It is found west of the Euphrates ; " indeed we are 

 informed by Colonel Smith," says the author of the 

 'Physical History of Palestine,' "that not only is 

 the Syrian ass larger and more handsome than the 

 Ghurkhud of Persia, but that the species improves 

 west of the Euphrates, and is very fine in the Bahar 

 el Abaid, Africa." "Burckhardt declares that wild 

 asses are found in great numbers in Arabia Petraea 

 near the gulf of Akaba. The Sherarat Arabs hunt 

 them, and eat their flesh, but not before strangers. 

 They sell their skins and hoofs to the pedlars of 

 Damascus and the people of the Haouran. The 

 hoofs furnish materials for rings, which are worn by 

 the peasants on their thumbs, or fastened under their 

 armpits, as amulets against rheumatism." (Notes 

 on ' Bedouins.') 



The Tartars, Arabs, and Persians are not singular 

 in their partiality for the flesh of the wild ass. The 

 epicures of Rome held it in the same estimation as 

 we do venison, and from a passage in Pliny it would 

 appear that the species inhabited North Africa, 

 and that the most delicate and best flavoured fat 

 foals {lalisiones) were brought from that continent 

 to the Roman market. Leo Africanus also gives 

 North Africa as the locality of the wild ass. We 

 have quoted above our authority for stating that it 

 exists in Arabia and in the Bahar el Abaid. We are 

 not aware that a specimen of the true wild ass, with 

 a cross over the shoulders, has ever been imported 

 into Europe. 



470, 471, 472. — The Dzigguetai 

 {Equus Hermionus). Supposing that this species be 

 identical with the wild ass of Cutch and Goojrat, 

 and with the Khur (or Ghurkhud) of Persia, as we 

 have stated is the opinion of Col. Sykes, its range 

 will be very extensive. Its fleetness is extreme. 

 Col. Sykes states that " Major Wilkins, of the cavalry 

 of the Bombay army, who was stationed with his 

 regiment for years at Deesa, on the borders of the 

 Runn, or salt marshes east of Cutch, in his morning 

 rides used to start a particular wild ass so frequently, 

 that it became familiar to him, and he always gave 

 chace to it ; and though he piqued himself on being 

 mounted on an exceedingly fleet Arabian horse, he 

 never could come up with the animal." A similar 

 statement is given by Sir R. Ker Porter, of the 

 Khur, one of which he chased in vain. "The sun 

 was just rising over the summits of the eastern 

 mountains when my greyhound suddenly started off 

 in pursuit of an animal which my Persians said, 

 from the glimpse they had of it, was an antelope. 

 I instantly put spurs to my horse, and with my at- 

 tendants gave chace. After an unrelaxed gallop 

 of three miles, we came up with the dog, who was 

 then within a short stretch of the creature he pur- 

 sued, and to my surprise, and at first vexation, I 

 saw it to be an ass. Upon a moment's reflection, 

 however, judging from its fleetness that, it must be 

 a wild one, a creature little known in Europe, but 

 which the Persians prize above all other animals as 

 an object of chace, I determined to approach as 

 near to it as the very swift Arab I was on would 

 carry me. But the single instant of checking my 

 horse to consider had given our game such a head 

 of us, that notwithstanding all our speed, we could 

 not recover our ground on him. ,1 however hap- 

 pened to be considerably before my companions 

 when at a certain distance the animal in its turn 

 made a pause, and allowed me to approach within 

 pistol-shot of him : he then darted off again with 

 the quickness of thought, capering, kicking, and 

 sporting in his flight, as if he was not blown in the 

 least, and the chace was his pastime. When my 

 followers of the country came up, they regretted 

 that I had not shot the creature when he was within 

 my aim, telling me that his flesh is one of the 

 greatest delicacies in Persia. The prodigious swift- 

 ness and peculiar manner in which he fled across 

 the plain coincided exactly with the description 

 that Xenophon gives of the same animal in Arabia. 

 But above all it reminded me of the striking por- 

 trait drawn by the author of the Book of Job. I 

 was informed by the Mehmendar, who had been in 

 the desert when making a pilgrimage to the shrine 

 of Ali, that the wild ass of Irak Arabi differs in 

 nothing from tlnrone I had just seen. He had ob- 

 served them often for a short time in the possession 

 of the Arabs, who told him the creature was per- 

 fectly untameable. A few days after this discussion, 

 we saw another of these animals, and, pursuing it 

 determinedly, had the good fortune to kill it. : ' 



The Dzigguetai lives in troops under the conduct 

 of a leader whose motions the rest follow. Ever 

 quick and watchful, they take the alarm on the 

 least appearance of danger, and on the approach of 

 the enemy skim the desert, clear hills and rocks, 

 and bid defiance to pursuit. It is easy to conceive 

 the difficulties attending the chace of this fleet and 

 wary animal ; indeed without the aid of fire-arms 

 pursuit would be in vain. 



P2 



