OEDEE OEPACHYBEEMATA. 
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in fact, lose all in consequence of the treatment which he receives. 
He is too frequently the plaything, the butt, and the drudge of 
his owner, who drives him, beats him, overloads him, and tires 
him out, without care and without mercy. There seems to be no 
attention paid to the fact that the Ass would be the best and 
most useful of animals, if there had been no such animal in the 
world as the Horse.” 
While the Horse is full of pride, impetuosity, and ardour, the 
Ass is mild, humble, and patient, and bears with resignation the 
most cruel treatment. Most abstemious in its habits, it is content 
with the coarsest herbage, which other beasts will not touch, even 
such as thistles and weeds. A small quantity of water is sufficient 
for it, but this it requires pure and clear. It will not, like the 
Horse, wallow in mud or water ; and as its master too often 
forgets to groom it, it performs this duty by rolling itself on the 
turf or the heather when opportunity offers. It has sharp-sight, 
an excellent sense of smell, and an ear of keen acuteness. If it 
is laden too heavily it remonstrates by drooping its head and 
lowering its ears. “ When it is teased,” says Buffon, “ it opens 
its mouth and draws back its lips in a disagreeable manner, giving 
it a mocking and derisive air.” 
The Ass walks, trots, and gallops like the Horse, but all its 
movements are shorter and slower. Whatever pace it employs, 
if too hardly pressed, it soon becomes tired ; if not hurried, it is 
most enduring. It sleeps less than the Horse, and never lies 
down for this purpose except when worn out with fatigue. Buffon 
says that it never utters its long and discordant cry, which passes 
in inharmonious succession from sharp to flat and from flat to 
sharp, except when hungry, or desirous of expressing amorous 
feelings. 
Attaching itself readily and sincerely, it scents its master from 
afar, and distinguishes him from all other persons, manifesting 
joy when he approaches. It recognises without difficulty the 
locality which it inhabits, and the roads which it has frequented. 
When young, it cannot fail to please by its gaiety, activity, and 
gracefulness ; but age and ill-treatment soon render it dull, slow, 
and headstrong. 
The Ass carries the heaviest weight in proportion to its size 
of all beasts of burthen; it costs little or nothing to keep, and 
