EQUUS. 
ass is remarkable For particular caution 
against wetting its feet, to avoid which it 
will make various turns and crossings on the 
road. It seldom lies down to sleep, unless it 
is particularly fatigued, and sleeps consider- 
ably less than the horse. It is capable of be- 
ing taught a variety of exercises, and though 
regarded as a just emblem of stupidity, is 
far more susceptible and docile than is ge- 
nerally imagined, though unquestionably 
far inferior to the horse in these respects. 
Its bray is harsh and disgusting, particu- 
larly that of the male. The female has 
been considered by many naturalists as 
incapable of braying, contrary, in this 
country, most certainly, to the most frequent 
and obvious facts. Her voice is somewhat 
shriller and weaker than the male. In se- 
veral countries of Africa* and in some 
islands of the Archipelago, asses are hunted 
for food, and their flesh is regarded as 
highly nutritious and agreeable. In Eng- 
land their milk is in high esteem in cases of 
debility and decline, and where the sto- 
mach of the patient is incapable of digesting 
the more strong and oily produce of the 
cow. lu America, the ass was introduced 
by the Spaniards, and on the southern con- 
tinent of that quarter of the world these 
animals are found at present in vast herds, 
having multiplied to an extreme degree, and 
being frequently hunted by the natives, 
who contrive to surround a particular herd, 
and enclosing them gradually within a very 
small compass, entangle as many as they 
chuse to take by throwing over each a 
noosed cord with unfailing dexterity. The 
animal is then fettered with extreme ease, 
and left in that state upon the ground till 
the conclusion of the chase, which some- 
times is continued for two or three days. 
They are as swift as horses, and, indeed, in 
all ages, the wild ass has been considered as 
distinguished by rapidity. They attack 
and defend both with the hoof and teeth in 
the same manner as horses. The slowness 
and sluggishness of the ass have frequently 
excited ludicrous feelings, and it is related 
of Crassus, that the only occasion on which 
he was ever known to laugh, was at an ass 
eating thistles. The habits of the ass, how- 
ever, do not appear certainly a more fertile 
subject of ridicule than those of that philo- 
sopher. 
The mule is a hybrid animal, between 
the horse and the ass, and from its barren- 
ness, affords unquestionable evidence of the 
distinctness of these two species. In moun- 
tainous districts the mule is extremely ser- 
VOL. III. 
viceable as a beast of burden, as it moves 
over steep and rugged roads with astonish- 
ing firmness, steadiness, and facility. In 
England these animals are but little used, 
and where they are employed, it is almost 
uniformly in the above situations. The 
breed in this country has been considerably 
improved within a short period, by the im- 
portation of asses from Spain, where mules 
are in the highest estimation, and employed 
by the first orders of the opulent and noble, 
both for the saddle and the carriage. They 
are not unfrequently sold in that kingdom at 
the price of sixty or seventy guineas. To 
those who reside in a country abounding 
with precipitous passes and rugged roads, 
mules are invaluable, on account of their 
steadiness and accuracy of step. In the 
Alps they are uniformly employed by tra- 
vellers to descend roads, the narrowness, 
obliquity, and danger of which fill the rider 
with something approaching to consterna- 
tion. 
Their manner, on particular occasions of 
perilous andsteep descent, is worthy of being 
mentioned. Among the Alps the path often 
occupies only the space of a few feet in 
width, having on one side an eminence of 
perpendicular ascent, and on the other a 
vast abyss, and, as it generally follows the 
direction of the mountains, presents fre- 
quently declivities of several hundred yards. 
On arriving at one of these the mule, for a 
moment halts, and no effort of the rider 
can for the time urge it forward. It ap- 
pears alarmed at the contemplation of the 
danger. In a few moments, however, it 
places its fore feet as it might be supposed 
to do in the act of stopping itself, and al- 
most immediately closes its hinder feet, 
somewhat advancing then), so as to give 
the idea of its intention to lie down. In 
this attitude it glides down the descent 
with astonishing x-apidity, yet amidst all its 
speed, retains that self government which 
enables it to follow, with the most perfect 
precision, all the windings of the road, and 
to avoid every impediment to its progress 
and secui'ity. During these singular and 
critical movements, the rider must be cau- 
tious to avoid the slightest check, and must 
devote his attention to the preservation of 
his seat without deranging the equilibrium 
of the mule, the least disordering of which 
would be inevitably fatal. By long expe- 
rience on these perilous roads, some mules 
have acquired the most admirable and asto- 
nishing dexterity, and having been in parti- 
cular requisition from tbeir extraordinary 
E 
