THE ASS.

If we consider this animal with attention, he appears only to be a

horse degenerated. The perfect similitude in conformation of the

brain, lungs, stomach, intestinal conduit, heart, liver, and other

viscera, and the great resemblance of the body, legs, feet, and the

entire skeleton, supports this opinion. We may also attribute the

slight differences, which are found between these two animals, to the

influence of the climate and food, and to the fortuitous succession of

many generations of small wild horses, which, gradually degenerating,

have at last produced a new and fixed species; or, rather a succession

of individuals alike, all vitiated in the same manner, sufficiently

differing from a horse, to be looked upon as another species. What

appears to favour this idea is, that horses vary much more than asses

in their colour; they have consequently been longer domestic, since all

domestic animals vary much more in their colour than wild ones of the

same species. The greater number of wild horses, of which travellers

speak, are small, and have, like the ass, grey hair, and the tail naked

and frizzled at the end: there are also some wild horses, and even

domestic ones, which have a black stripe on the back, and other marks,

which nearly resemble both wild and domestic asses.

Again, if we consider the difference of the temperament, disposition,

and manners; in a word, the organization of these two animals, and,

above all, the impossibility of mixing the breed, so as to make one

common species, or even an intermediate species, which may be renewed;

it appears a better founded opinion to think that these animals are

of a species equally ancient, and originally as essentially different

as they are at present. The ass differs materially from the horse in

the smallness of the size, largeness of the head, length of the ears,

hardness of the skin, nakedness of the tail, the form of the rump, and

the dimensions of the neighbouring parts, the voice, the appetite,

manner of drinking, &c. Can we then suppose that the horse and the ass

came originally from the same stock? are they of the same family, or

not? and have they not always been different animals?

This question of which philosophers will find the generality,

difficulty, and consequences, and which we treat of in this article,

because it here offers itself for the first time, appertains to the

production of beings nearest to each other, and renders it necessary

that we should consider nature under a new point of view. If from the

immense variety of animated beings which people the universe, we chuse

an animal, or even the body of man, to serve as a foundation to our

knowledge, and to find out, by way of comparison, the other organized

beings, we shall find that each possesses an independent existence,

and that all vary, by different gradations, almost to infinity; there

exists also, at the same time, a primitive and general design, which

we may trace very far, and of which the gradations are much slower

than those of the form, and other apparent relations, for, without

mentioning the organs of digestion, circulation and generation, which

appertain to all animals, and without which they could neither subsist

nor reproduce, there is even in the parts which contribute most to

the variety of the exterior form a prodigious resemblance, which

necessarily calls to our minds an original design, upon which all seem

to have been projected and executed. The body of a horse, for example,

which, by a single glance of the eye, appears so different from the

body of a man, when it is compared part by part, instead of surprising

by the difference, only astonishes by the singular and almost perfect

resemblance, in fact, take the skeleton of a man, bend downwards the

bones of the pelvis, shorten those of the thighs, legs, and arms,

lengthen those of the feet and hands, join the phalanges, lengthen the

jaws, by shortening the frontal bone, and extend the spine of the back,

this skeleton would cease to represent the remains of a human figure,

and would be the skeleton of a horse; for it is easy to suppose, that

in lengthening the spine of the back and jaws we augment, at the same

time, the number of the vertebræ, ribs, and teeth; and it is only by

the number of those bones, which may be looked upon as accessory, and,

by the prolongation, the shortening, or junction, of the others, that

the skeleton of a horse differs from that of the human body. We see

in the description of the horse these facts too well established to

doubt; but, to follow these relations still further, let us consider

separately some essential parts of the structure; for example, we

find ribs in all quadrupeds, in birds, and in fish; and we find the

vestiges even in the shell of the turtle. Let us also consider, that

the foot of a horse, so different in appearance from the hand of a man,

is, notwithstanding composed of the same bones, and that we have, at

the extremity of each of our fingers, the same little bone resembling

a horse-shoe, which terminates the foot of that animal. From this we

may judge if this hidden resemblance is not more marvellous than the

apparent differences; if this constant conformity and design followed

from man to quadrupeds, from quadrupeds to cetaceous animals, from

cetaceous animals to birds, from birds to reptiles, from reptiles to

fish, &c. in which the essential parts, as the heart, intestines,

spine, senses, &c. are always found, does not imply, that, in creating

animals the Supreme Being has followed but one idea, and varied it, at

the same time, in every possible manner, that man may equally admire

the magnificence, execution, and simplicity of the design.

In this point of view, not only the ass and horse, but man, monkies,

quadrupeds, and all animals, may be looked upon as making but one

family; but ought we, therefore, to conclude, that in this great and

numerous family, which the Almighty has conceived and created from

nothing, there are smaller families projected by nature and produced

by time? some of which are composed only of two individuals, as the

horse and the ass; others of several individuals, as the weazle,

the pole-cat, the ferret, &c. and also that in vegetables there are

families of ten, twenty, thirty plants, &c. If these families existed,

in fact, they could only be formed by the mixture, the successive

variation, and the degeneration of the original species; and, if we

admit, for once, that there are families in plants and animals, that

the ass is of the family of the horse, and that he only differs because

he has degenerated; we may say, with as much propriety, that the monkey

belongs to the family of man, and he is a man degenerated; that man and

the monkey had but one common origin, like the horse and ass; that each

family, as well in animals as in vegetables, come from the same origin,

and even that all animals are come from one species, which, in the

succession of time, by improving and degenerating, has produced all the

races of animals which now exist.

The naturalists, who have so easily established families and

vegetables, do not seem to have considered the whole extent of these

consequences, which would reduce the immediate product of the creation,

to any number of individuals however small; for, if it was once proved,

that animals and vegetables were really divided into families, and that

there was a single instance of one species having been produced by the

degeneration of another; if it was true, that the ass was only a horse

degenerated, there would be no bounds to the power of nature, and,

we might, with equal reason suppose, that from one single individual

being, in the course of time, she might have produced all the organized

bodies which are now spread over the universe.

But it is certain, by revelation, that all creatures have equally

participated in the favours of creation; that the two first of each

species, were formed by the hands of the Creator, and we ought to

believe, that they were then nearly such as they appear at present

in their descendants. Besides, since Nature has been observed with

attention, from the time of Aristotle to the present, not a single new

species has been seen, notwithstanding the rapid motion that drags on,

or dissipates the parts of matter, notwithstanding the infinite number

of combinations which must have been in the space of twenty centuries,

notwithstanding the fortuitous couplings of different animals, from

which nothing has ever resulted but vitiated and sterile individuals,

and such as have not been able to become a stock for new generations.

Were the exterior and interior resemblance in some animals still

greater than they are between the horse and the ass, we ought not to

confound these animals, nor give them to one common origin, for if

they, in fact, came from the same stock, we might bring them back to

their original state by new alliances, and undo by time, what time is

already supposed to have done.

We must also consider, that although nature proceeds by gradual, and

frequently by imperceptible degrees, the intervals are not always the

same. The more exalted the species, the fewer they are in number, and

the shades by which they are separated, are more conspicuous; the

smaller species, on the contrary, are very numerous, and have more

affinity to each other, so that we are the more tempted to confound

them together in the same family; but we should not forget that these

families are our own works, that we have made them for the ease of

our memories, that if we cannot comprehend the real relations of all

beings, it is ourselves, not nature that is in fault, who knows not

these pretended families; and, in fact, contains only individuals.

An individual is a separate detached being, and has nothing in common

with other beings, excepting that it resembles, or rather differs from

them. All similar individuals which exist on the earth, are considered

as composing the species of those individuals. Notwithstanding, it is

neither the number nor collection of similar individuals which form the

species, but the constant succession and renewing of these individuals

which constitute them; for, a being which existed for ever would not

be a species. Species, then, is an abstract and general term, the

meaning of which can only be determined on by considering nature in

the succession of time, and in the constant destruction and renewal

of beings. It is by comparing the present state of nature with that

of the past, and actual individuals with former, that has given us a

clear idea of what is called species: for a comparison of the number or

resemblance of individuals, is only an accessory idea, and frequently

independent of the first; for, the ass resembles the horse more than

the barbet the greyhound, notwithstanding the latter are but one

species, since they produce fertile individuals, but the horse and ass

are certainly of different species, since they produce together vicious

and unfruitful individuals.

It is then in the characteristic diversity of the species, that the

shades of nature are the most sensible and best marked; we may even

say, that these shades between the species are the most equal and least

variable, since we may always draw a line of separation between two

species: that is, between two successions of individuals, who reproduce

and cannot mix, as we may also unite into one species two successions

of individuals which would reproduce by mixing. This is the most fixed

point that we have in Natural History; all other resemblances, and

differences that we can make in the comparison of beings, are neither

so constant, real, nor certain. These intervals are the only lines of

separation that will be found in this work; we shall not divide beings

otherwise than they are in fact: each species, each succession of

individuals which reproduce and cannot mix, will be considered apart,

and treated separately; and we shall only make use of families, kinds,

orders, and classes, which are marked out by Nature herself.

Species, then, being nothing more than a constant succession of

individuals alike, and which reproduce, ought only to extend to

animals and vegetables, and that it is only an abuse of the term,

and confounding ideas when used to point out the different kinds of

minerals. We should not then look on iron as one species, and lead

as another species, but only as two different metals, and should be

distinguished by lines of separation different from those made use of

with respect to animals and vegetables.

But to return to the degeneration of beings, and particularly to that

of animals. Let us examine more nearly still, the steps of nature, in

the variety which she offers to our view; and, as the human species

is best known to us, let us observe how far these steps of variation

extend. Men differ in colour from black to white, they differ also

one half in their height, bulk, lightness, strength, &c. and above

all in their understandings; but this last quality having nothing to

do with matter, ought not to be considered here. The others are the

usual variations of nature, proceeding from the influence of climate

and food; but, these differences of size and colour do not prevent

the Negro and the White, the Laplander and Patagonian, the Giant and

Dwarf, from mixing together, and producing fertile individuals; and

consequently these men, so different in appearance, are all of one

species, since this constant reproduction is that which constitutes

distinct species. Besides these general variations, there are others

more particular, which are also perpetrated; such as the enormous legs

of the men who are called of the race of St. Thomas, in the island of

Ceylon; the red eyes and white hair of the Dariens and Chacrelas, the

six fingers and toes in certain families, &c. These singular varieties

are either accidental defaults or excesses, which originating in

some individuals, are propagated from race to race, like hereditary

defects and diseases; but these differences should not be regarded as

forming separate species, since the extraordinary races of these men

with large legs, or six fingers, may mix with the ordinary races, and

produce fertile individuals. The same thing may be said of all other

deformities communicated from parents to their children. Thus far the

errors of Nature, and the varieties among men extend, and if there are

individuals which degenerate still more, those individuals reproducing

nothing, neither alter the constancy nor uniformity of the species.

Thus man constitutes but one and the same species, and, though this

species is perhaps more numerous, inconstant, and irregular in all its

actions, yet the prodigious diversity of nourishment, climate, and so

many other combinations as may be supposed, have not produced beings

different enough from each other to constitute new species, and at the

same time so like ourselves, that we are not able to deny but that we

are of the same race.

If the Negro and the White could not procreate together, or if their

offspring remained unfruitful, they would be two distinct species;

the negro would be to man what the ass is to the horse; or rather, if

the white was the man, the negro would be a distinct animal like the

monkey, and we might with reason think, that the white and the negro

had not the same common origin. But this supposition is denied by the

fact; for since all varieties of men can communicate together and

transmit their kind, all men must have come from the same stock, and

are of the same family.

When two individuals of the same species cannot produce together, it

is possibly occasioned by some slight difference of temperament, or

accidental fault in the organs of generation. For two individuals of

different species, to produce other individuals which do not resemble

the one or the other in no fixed particular, and can consequently

produce nothing like themselves, there needs but a certain degree

of conformity between the forms of their bodies, and their organs

of generation. But what an immense number of combinations are even

necessary, even to suppose that two animals, male and female, of a

certain species, have so much degenerated as to form a new species,

and are no longer able to produce with any of their own kind but

themselves! And also to suppose that the production of these two

degenerated animals should follow exactly the same laws which are

observed in the procreation of perfect animals; for a degenerated

animal is itself a vitiated production, and how can a vitiated,

depraved origin, become a new stock, and not only produce a constant

succession of beings, but even to produce them in the same manner, and

by following the same laws which reproduce animals, the origin of which

are pure and uncorrupted?

Although we cannot demonstrate that the production of a new species,

by degeneration, is a thing impossible in nature, yet the number of

probabilities to the contrary render it incredible, for if some species

have been produced by the degeneration of others, if that of the ass

absolutely originated from the horse, it can only have happened by a

succession of imperceptible degrees, and there must necessarily have

been a greater number of intermediate animals, the first of which would

have differed but slightly in its nature from the horse, and the latter

would have approached by degrees to that of the ass. Upon the ground

of this supposition we might ask, what is become of these intermediate

beings? Why do we not see their representatives, their descendants? and

why do the two extremes alone remain?

The ass is then an ass, and not a horse degenerated; a horse with a

naked tail. The ass is neither a stranger, an intruder, nor a bastard;

he has like all other animals, his family, his species, and his rank;

his blood is pure and untainted, and although his race is less noble,

yet it is equally good, equally ancient, with that of the horse. Why

then is there so much contempt for an animal so good, so patient, so

steady, and so useful? Do men despise, even among animals, those which

serve them best and at the smallest expence? We educate the horse,

take care of, instruct, and exercise him, whilst the ass is abandoned

to the power of the lowest servant, or the tricks of children, so that

instead of improving, he must lose by his education, and if he had not

a fund of good qualities he would certainly lose them, by the manner in

which he is treated. He is the sport of the rustics, who beat him with

staffs, abuse, overload, and make him work beyond his strength. We do

not consider that the ass would be in himself, and, with respect to us,

the most beautiful, best-formed, and most distinguished of animals, if

there were no horse in the world; he, however, holds the second instead

of the first rank, and it is from that only he appears to be of no

value. It is comparison alone degrades him; we look at, and give our

opinions, not of himself, but comparatively with the horse. We forget

that he is an ass, that he has all the qualities of his nature, all

the gifts attached to his species, and only think of the figure and

qualities of the horse which are wanting in him, and which he ought not

to have.

He is naturally as humble, patient, and quiet, as the horse is proud,

ardent, and impetuous; he suffers with constancy, and perhaps with

courage, chastisement, and blows; he is moderate both as to the

quantity and quality of his food; he is contented with the hardest

and most disagreeable herbs, which the horse, and other animals, will

leave with disdain; he is very delicate with respect to his water,

for he will drink none but the clearest, and from rivulets which he

is acquainted with; he drinks as moderately as he eats, and does not

put his nose in the water through fear, as some say, of the shadow of

his ears: as care is not taken to comb him, he frequently rolls on the

grass, thistles, and in dust. Without regarding his road, he lies down

and rolls as often as he can, and seemingly to reproach his master

for the little care he takes of him, for he never wallows in the mud

or in the water; he even fears to wet his feet, and will turn out of

his road to avoid it; his legs are also drier and cleaner than those

of the horse; he is susceptible of education, and some have been seen

sufficiently disciplined for a public shew.

When young, they are sprightly, handsome, light and even graceful, but

they soon lose those qualities either from age or bad treatment, and

become slow, stubborn, and headstrong. The ass is ardent in nothing

but love, or rather when under the influence of that passion he is

so furious that nothing can retain him; he has been known to exhaust

himself by excessive indulgence, and die some moments afterwards. As

he loves with a kind of madness, he has also the strongest attachment

to his progeny. Pliny assures us, that when they separate the mother

from her young, she will go through fire to recover it. The ass is

also strongly attached to his master, notwithstanding he is usually

ill-treated; he will scent him at a distance, and distinguish him

from all other men. He also knows the places where he has lived, and

the ways which he has frequented. His eyes are good, and smell acute,

especially with regard to females; his ears are excellent, which has

also contributed to his being numbered among timid animals, who it is

pretended have all long ears, and the hearing extremely delicate. When

he is overloaded, he shews it by lowering his head and bending down his

ears: when greatly abused, he opens his mouth and draws back his lips

in a most disagreeable manner, which gives him an air of derision and

scorn. If his eyes are covered, he remains motionless; and when he is

laid down, and his head so fixed, that one eye rests on the ground and

the other being covered with a piece of wood, he will remain in that

situation without endeavouring to get up. He walks, trots, and gallops

like the horse, but all his motions are smaller and much slower. He

can however run with tolerable swiftness, but he can hold it only for

a small space, and whatever pace he uses, if he is hard pressed, he is

soon fatigued.

The horse neighs, but the ass brays; which he does by a long,

disagreeable, and discordant cry, by alternative discords of sharp and

flat. He seldom cries but when he is pressed by love or appetite. The

she-ass has the voice clearer and more shrill; those that are gelded,

bray very low, and though they seem to make the same efforts, and the

same motions of the throat, yet their cry cannot be heard very far.

Of all the animals covered with hair, the ass is least subject to

vermin, which apparently proceeds from the peculiar hardness and

dryness of the skin, and for the same reason he is less sensible than

the horse to the whip, and stinging of flies.

At two years and a half old the first middle incisive teeth fall out,

and the others on each side soon follow; they are renewed at the same

time, and in the same order as those of the horse. The age of the

ass is also known by his teeth in the same manner. From the age of

two years and a half, the ass is in a state to engender; the female

is still more early and quite as lascivious, so that unless she is

beaten to allay her ardour, she seldom conceives. The usual time of

her being in heat is May or June; when pregnant it soon goes off, and

at the tenth month milk is found in her dugs; she brings forth at the

twelfth, and frequently there are found solid pieces of flesh in the

liquor of the amnios, resembling the hippomanes of a foal. Seven days

after delivery she is capable of receiving the male, so that we may say

she is constantly rearing and engendering. She only produces one foal,

and we have scarcely ever heard of her having two. At the end of five

or six months the foal may be weaned, and it is even necessary if the

mother is pregnant. The stallion ass should be chosen from the largest

and strongest of his species; he must at least be three years old,

but should not exceed ten; his legs should be long, body plump, head

long and light, eyes brisk, nostrils and chest large, neck long, loins

fleshy, ribs broad, rump flat, tail short, hair shining, soft to the

touch, and of a deep grey.

The ass, like the horse, is three or four years in growing, and lives

also like him 25 or 30 years; it is said the female usually lives

longer than the male; but, perhaps, this happens from their being often

pregnant, and at those times having some care taken of them, instead

of which the males are constantly worn out with fatigue and blows.

They sleep less than the horse, and do not lie down to sleep, except

when they are exceedingly tired. The male ass lasts also much longer

than the stallion; the older he is the more ardent he appears, and

in general the health of this animal is much better than that of the

horse; he is less delicate and not near so subject to maladies. The

ancients knew of no disease they had but the glanders, and which, as we

have already said, they are much less subject to than the horse.

There are among asses different races, as among horses, but they are

much less known, because they have not been taken the same care of,

or followed with the same attention; but we cannot doubt that they

originally came from warm climates. Aristotle assures us, that there

were none in his time in Scythia, nor the other northern countries, nor

even in Gaul; which, he says, is too cold a climate, and adds, that

a cold climate either prevents them from procreating their species,

or causes them to degenerate, which is the reason they are small

and weak in Illyria, Thrace, and Epirus. They are still the same in

France, though they have been for many ages naturalized, and though

the coldness of the climate is much lessened within these two thousand

years, by the number of forests destroyed, and marshes dried up; but

it is more certain, they have been but newly introduced into Sweden

and the other northern countries. They appear to have come originally

from Arabia; and to have passed from Arabia into Egypt, from Egypt into

Greece, from Greece into Italy, from Italy into France, and from thence

into Germany, England, Sweden, &c. for they are, in fact, weak and

small, in proportion to the coldness of the climate.

This migration seems to be well proved by the account of travellers.

Chardin says, "that there are two kinds of asses in Persia, the asses

of the country, which are slow and heavy, and which are only made use

of to carry burthens, and a race of Arabian asses, which are very

beautiful, and certainly the first asses in the world; their skin is

glossy, their heads high, and have high light feet, which they raise

with grace, walk well, and are solely employed to ride on. The saddles

which they use with them are like a bat, round on one side, flat on the

other; they are made of woollen cloth, or tapestry, and have harness

and stirrups, and the rider sits on them nearer the crupper than the

neck. There are some of these asses which even cost about 18 pounds

sterling, and there are none sold under 25 pistoles. They are broke

like horses, but are taught no other pace than the amble; the manner

of teaching them is by tying their hind and fore-legs of the same side

with two ropes of cotton, which are made to the length of the step the

ass is to pace, and are suspended by a cord fastened to the girth. A

groom mounts and exercises them in this pace morning and evening. Their

nostrils are slit in order to enable them to breathe more freely, and

they go so fast, that a horse must gallop to keep up with them."

It is to be regretted that the Arabians, who have so long taken care to

preserve the breed of their horses, had not paid the same attention to

the ass, since from the above it appears that Arabia is not only the

first, but also the best climate in the world for both. From Arabia

they have passed into Barbary and Egypt, where they are handsome

and high in stature. In the Indies, and in Guinea, they are larger,

stronger, and better than the horses of those countries: there are a

great number of them at Madura, where one of the most considerable and

noble tribes of the Indians pay particular homage to them, because

they believe that the souls of all their nobles pass into the bodies

of asses; in short, asses are found in great numbers in all parts of

the east, from Senegal to China, and wild asses are more commonly found

than wild horses.

The Latins, after the Greeks, have called the wild ass _onager_, which

animal must not be confounded, as some naturalists and travellers have

done, with the zebra, because the zebra is of a different species from

the ass. The onager, or wild ass, is not striped like the zebra, and

is not near so elegant in figure. Wild asses are found in some of the

islands of the Archipelago, and particularly in that of Cerigo; there

are also many in the deserts of Lybia and Numidia. They are grey, and

run so fast that the horses of Barbary only can beat them in hunting.

When they see a man they give a loud cry, turn themselves about, and

throw up their legs, then stop, and do not attempt to fly till he

comes very near them: they are taken in snares made with ropes, go

in troops to pasture, and their flesh is also eaten. There were, in

the time of Marmol, wild asses in Sardinia, but they were less than

those of Africa; Pietro della Valle says he saw a wild ass at Bassora,

whose figure differed in no respect from a domestic one, only of a

lighter colour, and had from the head to tail a stripe of white; he was

also much livelier and swifter than the asses usually are. Olearius

mentions, that one day the King of Persia made him go up with him to

the top of a little building, in form of a theatre, to eat fruit and

sweetmeats; that after the repast, 32 wild asses were brought in, when

the king amused himself for some time by firing at them, both with

bullets and arrows, and having wounded some, he afterwards permitted

the ambassadors, and other lords, to do the same; that it was no small

diversion to see these asses with a number of arrows sticking in them,

and, from the pain they felt, biting and rolling over each other; that

when they were all killed and laid before the king they were sent to

the royal kitchen at Ispahan; the Persians setting so great a value on

the flesh of these wild asses that they have a proverb expressive of

it. But it does not appear that these 32 wild asses were all taken in

the forests, and therefore it is probable they were asses brought up in

large parks, for the pleasure of hunting and eating them.

Neither asses nor horses were found in America, although the climate of

South America is perfectly consonant with their natures. Those which

the Spaniards have transported from Europe, and left in large islands,

and on the Continent, have greatly multiplied. In some parts they are

found in troops, and are taken in snares like wild horses.

The he-ass with the mare produce large mules, and the horse with the

she-ass produce small mules, differing from the first in many respects;

but as we shall treat of mules in a particular chapter, we shall finish

the history of the ass with that of its properties, and the uses to

which the animal may be put.

As wild asses are unknown in these climates we cannot in reality say

whether their flesh is or is not good to eat; but it is certain, that

the flesh of the domestic ass is extremely bad, and harder than that of

the horse. Galen says, that it is a pernicious aliment, and occasions

diseases. The milk of the ass, on the contrary, is an approved and

specific remedy for certain complaints and its use has been transmitted

to us from the Greek. To have it good we should chuse a young healthy

she-ass, full of flesh, that has lately foaled, and has not since been

with the male: the young one should be taken from her, and care must

be taken to feed her well with hay, oats, barley, and grass, whose

qualities may have an influence on the disease, with particular care

not to let the milk cool, nor even to expose it to the air, which will

spoil it in a little time. The ancients also attributed great virtue to

the blood, &c. of the ass, but which experience has not confirmed.

As the skin of the ass is extremely hard, and very elastic, it is

used for different purposes, such as to make drums, shoes, and thick

parchment for pocket-books, which is slightly varnished over: it is

also with asses' skin that the Orientals make their sagri, which we

call _shagreen_. It is also probable that the bones of asses are

harder than those of other animals, since the ancients made their

best-sounding flutes of them.

The ass in proportion to his size, can carry the greatest weight of

any animal; and as it costs but little to feed him, and he scarcely

requires any care, he is of great use in country business; he also

serves to ride on, as all his paces are gentle, and he stumbles less

than the horse; he is frequently put to the plough in countries where

the earth is light, and his dung is an excellent manure.