ITS NEAREST EXISTING RELATIONS 



88 



species of wild ass. Sir Samuel Baker says: i Those 

 who have seen donkeys only in their civilised state have 

 no conception of the beauty of the wild or original animal . 

 It is the perfection of activity and courage, and has a 

 high-bred tone in its deportment, a high-actioned step 

 when it trots freely over the rocks and sand, with the 

 speed of a horse when it gallops over the boundless desert.' 



As with most other animals of the group, its flesh 

 is eaten and much appreciated by the natives of the 

 countries in which it lives. The bray of the Abyssinian 

 wild ass is the same as that so characteristic of the 

 domestic variety, and the marked aversion of the latter 

 to cross the smallest streamlet — an aversion which it 

 shares with the camel — and the evident delight with 

 which it rolls itself in the dust, seem to point to arid 

 deserts as its original home. 



The Domestic Ass is too well known to require 

 description. Although the variations produced by 

 differences of climate, treatment, and breeding are not 

 so great as they are in the horse, they are still con- 

 siderable, and, if careful selection and improvement had 

 been more attended to, would certainly be far greater. 

 As it is, the continued neglect and ill-treatment to 

 which this unfortunate animal has been too often sub- 

 jected, as being essentially the servant, or, rather, the 

 slave of the poor man all over the world, has led to 

 deterioration both of its physical qualities and character. 



q 2 



