When the ass is brought into comparison with the horse, in respect to
external form, every thing appears to be in favor of the latter animal.
The ass is inferior to the horse in size, less sprightly in its
motions, its head is heavy, and it stoops in its gait. The horse
generally moves with its head erect, looks freely abroad on the skies
and earth, with an eye expressive of lively emotions. The ass is seen
trudging slowly along, as if sensible of the hopelessness of a
cessation from toil; and, full of melancholy thoughts, its leaden eye
is fixed on the ground. Yet its shape and its habits, in its state of
servitude, present something that is pleasing, though, on the whole,
they are somewhat untoward and ungainly.
_Miscellaneous Anecdotes._--The ass is far from being incapable of
understanding the nature of the employments in which he is engaged, or
disobedient to the commands of his master. An ass was employed, at
Carisbrook, in the Isle of Wight, in drawing water by a large wheel
from a deep well, supposed to have been sunk by the Romans. When his
keeper wanted water, he would call the ass by his name, saying, "I want
water; get into the wheel;" which wish the ass immediately complied
with; and there can be no doubt but that he knew the precise number of
times necessary for the wheel to revolve upon its axis in order to
complete his labor; for every time he brought the bucket to the surface
of the well, he stopped and turned round his head to observe the moment
when his master laid hold of the bucket to draw it towards him, because
he had then a nice motion to make either slightly forward or backward,
as the situation of the bucket might require.
In 1816, an ass belonging to Captain Dundas was shipped on board the
Ister, bound from Gibraltar to Malta. The vessel struck on a sand-bank
off the Point de Gat, and the ass was thrown overboard into a sea which
was so stormy that a boat that soon after left the ship was lost. In
the course of a few days, when the gates of Gibraltar were opened in
the morning, the guard was surprised by the same ass, which had so
recently been removed, presenting itself for admittance. On entering,
it proceeded immediately to the stable which it had formerly occupied.
The ass had not only swam to the shore, but found its own way from
Point de Gat to Gibraltar, a distance of more than two hundred miles,
through a mountainous and intricate country intersected by streams,
which it had never passed before, but which it had now crossed so
expeditiously that it must have gone by a route leading the most
directly to Gibraltar.
A few years ago, at Swalwell, England, a man set his bull-dog to attack
an ass, that for a while gallantly defended itself with its heels,
which it was agile enough to keep presented to the dog. Suddenly
turning round on its adversary, it caught it with its teeth, in such a
manner that the dog was unable to retaliate. It then dragged the
assailant to the River Derwent, into which it plunged it overhead, and
lying down upon it, kept it in the water till it was drowned.
Though the ass is frequently the subject of ill treatment, yet it seems
to be an animal not without affection for its master, which in many
cases we may suppose to be returned by kindness and care on his part. A
pleasing instance to this effect we have in the following anecdote: "An
old man, who some time ago sold vegetables in London, had an ass which
carried his baskets from door to door. He frequently gave the poor
industrious creature a handful of hay, or some pieces of bread or
greens, by way of refreshment and reward. The old man had no need of
any goad for the animal, and seldom, indeed, had he to lift up his hand
to drive it on. His kind treatment was one day remarked to him, and he
was asked whether the beast was not apt to be stubborn. 'Ah!' he said,
'it is of no use to be cruel; and as for stubbornness, I cannot
complain, for he is ready to do any thing or go any where. I bred him
myself. He is sometimes skittish and playful, and once ran away from
me: you will hardly believe it, but there were more than fifty people
after him, attempting in vain to stop him; yet he turned back of
himself, and never stopped till he ran his head kindly into my bosom.'"
The following is a pleasing anecdote of the sagacity of the ass, and
the attachment displayed by the animal to his master. Thomas Brown
travelled in England as a pedler, having an ass the partner of his
trade. From suffering under paralysis, he was in the habit of assisting
himself on the road by keeping hold of the crupper of the saddle, or
more frequently the _tail_ of the ass. During a severe winter some
years ago, whilst on one of his journeys, the old man and his ass were
suddenly plunged into a wreath of snow. There they lay far from help,
and ready to perish.
At last, after a severe struggle, the poor ass got out; but, finding
his unfortunate master absent, he eyed the snow-bank some time with a
wistful look, and at last forced his way through it to where his master
lay, when, placing his body in such a position as to allow him to lay a
firm hold on his tail, the honest pedler was enabled to grasp it, and
was actually dragged out by the faithful beast to a place of safety!