1871.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
107 
1©YS 4 ilimiLS' (BQILOTMSo 
About l>onlceys. 
BY " CARLETON." 
Dnring the years that I have been knocking about the 
world, I have traveled iu a great variety of ways— in cars, 
on steamboats, on ocean steamers, in sailing vessels, in 
stages, it* hacks, on rafts, on horseback, on donkeys, and 
on foot. I have seen many amusing scenes, especially 
with donkeys. I venture a guess that not more than half 
of the boys and girls who read the Agriculturist ever saw 
one of the long-eared animals, for there are not many of 
them in the Eastern States. Their voice is not quite so 
tuneful as that of the nightingale, and when they attempt 
to bray they make such a botch of it that you cannot help 
laughing. 
My Uncle Ben bought one once when he was in Brigh- 
ton market, and sent it up to his farm in the country ; 
it was the first one ever seen in the neighborhood. Zeke 
Simple, not knowing what had happened, went into the 
stable, and the donkey, seeing the door open, pricked 
tip his ears, opened his jaws, and gave a bray so loud and 
unearthly, so unlike any thing Zeke had ever heard, that 
his hair stood on end, his cheeks were white, and his 
eyes started from their sockets. He ran into the house 
and asked if it was not the devil ! 
Unless you have had some experience with donkeys 
you do not know their qualities ; they are the most cheer- 
ful, patient, plodding, obstinate creatures in the world. 
They will work patiently all day, and live on little or 
nothing. They kick, and they stop when you want them 
to go, and go when you want them to stop. Their ears 
are so large that they take in a great deal of sound, which 
they let out through their mouths. Tliey have big heads, 
and would have you believe that they are honest, but 
they are wily and cunning, and play a prank upon you 
when you least expect it. 
I remember a very funny scene that I saw during the 
war. We were roughing it in Tennessee. It was a few 
weeks after the battle of Pittsburg Landing, and the 
army was in camp in the grand old woods, waiting for 
the mud to dry up. There was little to do except to eat 
our breakfast, dinner, and supper, of hard-tack and salt 
pork; but one day we had a hearty laugh over a donkey- 
race, and this was the way it came about: Jim and Jake 
were negro teamsters, and each had a baggage wagon 
with six mules and donkeys to draw it. They had been 
slaves, but were in the Union army " A fit in' for de 
Union," as Jim said. They were proud of their posi- 
tions and of their teams. 
" My team is de best team dar is in the whole army," 
said Jake. 
"No, H isn't, sah, my team is de bettermost. Dey is 
fat and slick, and can draw eber so much more dan 
yours," Jim answered. 
"O, no sah, dey can't; dey can't do it, no how, sah. 
I've got do beet donkey dar is iu de whole army, dat griz- 
zled one with a white nose. He can beat any one of 
your's, Jim, all holler, on a race," responded Jake. 
" No, he can't, sah. You bet. Dat black one of mine, 
he'll beat yours all to nuffin' in.no time," was Jim's reply. 
" I'll bet a dollar he can't. I'll bet two dollars he can 
run faster than yours." 
" I'll bet one hundred dollars he can't." 
"I'll bet five hundred dollars he can," said Jim, be- 
coming quite excited. Jake, too, was getting warmed 
up, and the soldiers one by one came out from their 
tents to see what was going on. As they had n't five cents 
in the world they had set the stakes quite high enough. 
u Bring out your donkeys," cried a wide-awake sol- 
dier, who wanted some fun; "here's a plug of tobacco 
for the one who wins." 
Away went Jake, and away went Jim, and in a few 
minutes both were back again. Each mounted on his 
favorite donkey, without saddles, with rope halters round 
the necks of the animals, and each with a good switch. 
"Go when I give the word," said the soldier, t{ and 
the one who rides out round that oak tree in the old cot- 
ton field and gets back here first will get the tobacco. 
The riders raised their switches, and sat ready to strike 
the donkeys. 
"One— two— three— go I" 
Each switch came down with a whack, and each don- 
key leaped ahead." 
"Go it Jim P 
" Put iu Jake I" 
Whack, whack, went the sticks. The donkeys ran and 
galloped. Now one was ahead, and now the other, and 
now they were neck and neck, and then Jake's donkey 
suddenly planted his fore feet into the ground, gave a 
kick with his hind ones, and the rider shot forward 
heels overhead, turned a summersault, and lay sprawling 
on the ground, while the donkey trotted off to a patch of 
green grass, and began to nibble it just as if he had 
played no prank; while Jim trotted back and took his 
tobacco. It was so funny to see Jake flying through the 
air that the soldiers laughed until the tears ran down 
their cheeks. Jake was so mortified that he did not 
show himscli until the next day. 
Had I space I would like to tell you what I saw in 
Egypt, how I rode a donkey from Cairo to the great pyr- 
amids, with a little Arab boy trotting hehind and crying 
" bar ! bar !" and bow the donkey pricked up his ears 
and went ahead upon the trot ; how one donkey played a 
prank on a friend and pitched him into the mud ; how I 
rode out to the spot where Joseph lived when he was 
brought into Egypt and sold as a slave ; how I went to 
the donkey market and saw thousands of them for sale, — 
and donkey colts, which I think are the funniest looking 
creatures in the world ; how I saw a woman and a donkey 
yoked together and harnessed to a plow which was only 
a forked limb of a tree, and saw the husband of the 
woman holding the plow, and plying his whip to the 
team; how I saw a man traveling with his family — one 
donkey carrying two baskets full of children — one basket 
on each side of the animal ; how the little black crea- 
tures, with laughing eyes peeped over the rims of the 
baskets and giggled at us. Probably they saw something 
funny in our stove-pipe hats. 
Donkeys are very common in the East, and in almost 
all the houses of the poor people in the country they 
munch their hay and grain beneath the same roof that 
shelters the master. Frequent mention is made in the 
Bible of asses. As you are attending school and learning 
to read correctly, let me tell you how a minister once 
read a passage about donkeys, and by placing the accent 
on the wrong word, not only made an ass of himself but 
set the congregation to tittering. Thus it was that he 
read: ""And he said unto his sons, saddle me the ass. 
So they saddled him, the ass." You see where the laugh 
comes in, and you will also see that in order not to make 
ourselves ridiculous we must give the right accent when 
we are reading. 
Aunt Sue's Puzzle Box. 
The answers are coming along merrily. In the April 
number you shall know who drew the prize for answer- 
ing all the Anagrams in the Feb. No. The same reward 
is offered this month for the solution of the following 
ANAGRAMS. 
1. Viper event. G. In same huts. 
2. Chop a real gig. 7._ Go sot, lose it. 
3. Quit Somo. 8. Red as grain. 
4." Parcel trails. 9. Meet P. C. once. 
5. Cell soap. 10. O ! Zebra Hut. 
ALPHABETICAL ARITHMETIC. 
The following is a simple sum in division in which let- 
ters are substituted for figures. 
NMO)INMELS(OODD 
NMO 
GGE 
NMO 
OADL 
OGED 
OMAS 
OGED 
OEG 
[concealed greek and latin proper names. 
1. This is the highest Pyramid, I ascend very slowly. 
2. I cannot run now, Sir, I used to. 
3 Since he has become a convert I cordially recom- 
mend hira. 
4. Why 1 Mat, you amaze us, is it true r 
5. The pony is qniet, useful, and pretty. 
6. Jacob, Benjamin, and even Eli rode him. 
CHARADE. 
First. 
See the poor little animal homeless and lone, 
How glad he would be if you gave him a bone. 
Second. 
You wont? Then my second, I freely confess 
Serves you right, if he did tear a hole in your dress. 
Whole. 
Come in with your boat, for the rapids are near, 
My whole is so strong, you have reason to fear. 
NUMERICAL ENIGMA. 
I am composed of 16 letters : 
My 6, 2, 10, 3, 12, 14, is an article of drees. 
My 1, 7, 8, 15, 13, 5, is a contemptible trait of character. 
My 16, 4, 1,0, is a bird. 
My 11, 2, 16, is a fish. 
My whole is good advice. 
PUZZLE. 
Take five hundred and fifty and one, 
And then add a thousand to that, 
If you place them in order required 
You'll see something good, kind, or "flat." 
SQUARE WORD. 
1. An animal. 2. A girl's name. 
3. An exclamation. 4. A tool. 
Aunt Sue's Notices to Correspondents. 
Frank. All communications for the Puzzle Box, must 
be sent to Aunt Sue, Box 111, P. O. Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Communications for the "Doctor," should be sent to 
245 Broadway, New York. My respects to your father. 
Archaeologist. Thanks for your history of relics, etc. 
Anna Davisson. Your affectionate welcome goes 
straight to my heart; many, many thanks. "Grand- 
mother " is with us yet, and shall have your message. 
Emma Bingham. I love to be called " Dear Aunt Sue." 
Do it again. 
Clara A. G. Did you get your big brother to write 
your letter for you? 
PRIZES. 
The square word (" seven ") prize was won by Horace 
Miller, Howard Springs, Tenn. 
The prize for answering the greatest number of the 
January puzzles was won by Lillie Streeper, who- 
answers correctly twenty-four. 
Thanks for puzzles, etc., to Reen Ross, J. K. P., A. G. 
Pettingcr, W., George E. Perry, W. H. Morrow, and Iowa. 
. Answers to Puzzles in the January Number. 
Riddle. A book. 
Counties. 1. Rusk. 2. Jasper. 3. Victoria. 4. Polk. 
5. Hunt. 6. Moore. 
Numerical Enigma. Mahershalalhashbaz. 
Transpositions. 1. Break, brake. 2. Leaf, flea. 3~ 
Deer, reed. 4. Nile, line. 5. Sloe, sole. 6. Lead, dale. 
Capes. 1. Henlopen. 2. Hatteras. 3. Lookout. 4. 
Sable. 
Puzzle. Cabbage. 
Square Word. Seven, exile, vices, elect, rests. (This 
was correctly answered by Gnssie Kilmer, C. E. Miller, 
S. L. C, Lillie Streeper, Henry Strohm, Olney K. Blanch- 
ard, Mary Louisa Bell, L. R. C, Nellie Sanxay, Jennie B. 
Lyford, J. H. Bird, Mary Bidwell, Mary Gidley, J. n. 
Charles, Iowa, Horace Miller, U. L. Morse, Frank, George 
E. Perry, and Emma Bingham.) 
Charade. Mandate. 
Combinations. 1. Arethusa. 2. Parasite. 3. Tem- 
perate. 
Rebuses. 398. Chickasaw. 399. Be ye therefore wise 
as serpents and harmless as doves. 400. (Which should 
have been credited to Hautboy.)— The most arch deed 
of pitiful massacre. 
%3T* All communications intended for the Puzzle 
Box should be addressed to Aunt Sue, Box 111, P. O. 
Brooklyn, N. Y. (Not to 245.) 
gr^ ° Answers to the puzzles in the March number 
must reach mc by the firstof April. Those received later 
will not be credited. 
HAUTBOY. 
404. Illustrated Rebus.— A line of poetry. 
405. Illustrated Jieous—A proverb to be heeded. 
