THE ASS. 
439 
by a discipline which never fails, reduces the horse to such 
complete obedience, that he is soon trained to lend his whole 
speed and strength to the capture of his companions/’ 
There is a remarkable difference in the dispositions of the 
Asiatic and South American wild horses: those of the former 
country can never be properly tamed, unless taken and 
trained very young ; if captured when adults, they fre¬ 
quently break out in fits of rage in after life, exhibiting 
every mark of natural wildness ; whereas those of America 
can be brought to perfect obedience, and even rendered 
somewhat docile within a few weeks. 
CHAPTER XIX. 
THE ASS AND MULE. 
THE ASS. 
This animal belongs to the same natural genus as the horse, 
and has been under the dominion of man from the earliest 
ages of which we have any account. Indeed, he seems to 
have been sooner domesticated than the horse ; for we find 
asses mentioned in the twelfth chapter of Genesis, as domes¬ 
ticated, 1920 years before the Christian era, although no¬ 
thing is said of the horse. 
In early times, the ass was not, as is now the case with 
us, considered a despicable animal; for we find that he was 
rode by the rich and noble, in preference to the horse, as 
will appear from the following instances, which we select 
from many that are recorded in the sacred writings :— 
When Abraham went to offer his son Isaac, he rode upon an 
