An ass was shipped at Gibraltar on board the _Isis_ frigate, to be sent
to Captain Dundas, then at Malta. The ship, on her voyage, struck on a
sand-bank off Cape de Gat, when among other things thrown overboard was
the poor ass; it being hoped that, although the sea was running high,
the animal might reach the shore.
A few days afterwards, when the gates of Gibraltar were opened in the
morning, the guard was surprised to see the ass present himself for
admittance. On being allowed to pass, he went immediately to the stable
of his former master. Not only had the animal swam safely to shore
through the heavy surf, but, without guide or compass, had found his way
from Cape de Gat to Gibraltar, a distance of more than two hundred
miles, across a mountainous and intricate country, intersected by
streams, and in so short a time that he could not have made one false
turn.