50 
ANIMALS OF CAYOR. 
drink ; nevertheless hydrophobia does not, as commonly be- 
lieved, result from these privations. 
The ass of Cayor is very strong and steady. Mine was of 
this country ; the services which he rendered me require a few 
words in vindication of the honour of his race, constantly in- 
sulted by Europeans, notwithstanding the eloquent pleading of 
Buffon in his favour. He is even a continual object of ridicule 
amongst the Negroes, who, however, derive great advantage 
from his services in travelling through their desert countries. 
The Serracolet alone seems justly to appreciate the utility of 
this animal, the possession of which he frequently prefers to 
that of a woman. 
I have seen my beast pass several days without eating or 
drinking, and notwithstanding the unparalleled privations 
which he endured, he never slackened his pace. A few dry 
bamboo leaves, or a handful of grass, parched by the heat of the 
sun, often sufficed to recruit his strength after toilsome journeys 
across sandy deserts, or over steep mountains. The agility 
with which he ascended the highest rocks was astonishing- 
A large hole was at length worn between his shoulders, which 
we were obliged to fill with straw and mud. Notwithstanding 
the acute pain this wound must undoubtedly have occasioned, 
the courageous animal seemed to have lost none of his vigour, 
when after loading him with the baggage I or my Marabout 
mounted behind it. Long privations, sickness and fatigue, 
had broken his natural obstinacy ; at the passage of the nu- 
