Of the power of the ass to bear fatigue, the history of Mr. Wilson is an instance. He drove one which was his own property, in a light gig, from Ipswich to London, and back again, a distance of 140 miles, in two days. The ass went at a pace little short of that of a good gig horse, and fed well at different stages. On his return, he came in without the aid of a whip, at the rate of seven miles an hour, and performed the whole journey with ease; he was twelve hands and a half high, and half bred Spanish and English.
Asses, although they do credit to good feeding, can live on very little, and that little of inferior quality. They have a decided manner of refusing to move when they are overloaded; and they are often seized with an immovable fit without having any apparent reason for it. In steep places they are invaluable, and their feet more sure than those of men would be. I have seen them put both their fore feet out together, and let them slip, then drag their hind feet up to them, and repeat this process on descending the vitrified, and almost perpendicular roads of Madeira, taking a zigzag direction across the road each time. Mules do the same, and perhaps derive the faculty from their asinine blood.
There cannot be a better proof of the intellect of asses, than by shewing them to be fond of the fine arts; therefore the account of one at Chartres, must enter into this work. "He used to go to the Chateau d'Ouarville, to hear the music that was often performed there. The owner of the Chateau was a lady, who had an excellent voice; and whenever she began to sing, he never failed to draw nearer the window, and listen very attentively. Once, when a piece was performed, which no doubt pleased him better than any he had heard before, he left his ordinary post, walked without ceremony into the music-room; and in order to add to the concert, what he thought perhaps might be an improvement, he began to bray with all his might."
CAMELS.—DROMEDARIES.
A peculiarity in the digestive organs of some animals causes all those who possess it to be thrown together into one large order, by naturalists. They have no front teeth, except in the lower jaw, and in place of them, the upper jaw is provided with a bony pad. A very few have canine teeth, and their grinders are marked with double crescents. They have two hoofs, but as the inside edge of these is flattened, they look as if they had only one cleft down the middle, the foot underneath is provided with elastic pads, connecting the toes together, and extruding beyond them at the sides. These cushions at each step expand, support the animal in yielding sand, and protect it on harder ground.
After they have taken their food, these Ruminantia, as they are called, lie down, and remain in a state of complete repose, in order to chew it a second time; and the process is thus accomplished: they have four stomachs, the first is called the paunch, and is the largest of all; into it descend the grass, herbs, and leaves, when first cropped and imperfectly masticated. Thence the mass goes into the second stomach, or honeycomb, so named, because its structure gives it the appearance of that substance: it is small and globular, and by means of its cells, squeezes the food into little balls, which are thrown up into the mouth of the animal, to receive a second mastication, called "chewing the cud." After this has been effected, it descends into the third stomach, or the feck, which looks something like the several leaves of a book; lastly it goes into the fourth stomach, which is merely wrinkled. It is in this that real digestion takes place; all the previous labour having been but a mere preparation for it, and indicated by the name of the order, taken from a Latin word, signifying "to chew over."
It would seem impossible for any animals to be more useful to man than the dog or the horse, yet these Ruminantia are still more precious to him, for while they serve him as beasts of burden, or transport, they perform agricultural labours and supply him generally with a variety of food. Milk, butter, cheese, the very best meat, the strongest yet most delicate leather, that most valuable commodity wool, hair, horn, and a long list of utilities, all proceeding from them; while the extreme beauty of many of the genera, and the sport they afford, contribute to his mere pleasure, as well as his comfort.
The Camels and Dromedaries, which come first before me, are confined but to a small portion of the earth's surface; they, however, in their more confined sphere afford incalculable benefits. Without them we should not be able to traverse those large plains of sand, which lie between the different countries of Africa, and also of south-western Asia. Their gaunt and angular form does not class them among the beauties to which I have alluded; and the only pretensions which their outward appearance can present for praise, is their admirable adaptation for the offices which they have to perform. Their full, upper lip is cleft, their neck is long, their eyes prominent and shaded with eye-lashes, their nostrils are like slits, which they can close at pleasure; their body has one or two humps on it, their legs have callous pads upon them, their feet are large and spreading, and their hair hangs loosely upon them in patches. That long, upper lip, however, when the hot blast of the desert almost dries their mouth, plunges into the sand and finds momentary relief by getting below the surface; that long ungainly neck raises the head so that the prominent eyes may see objects in the far distance; those nostrils are apertures to the most acute organs of smell, by which they can even ascertain that water is near; those callous pads enable them to kneel when they are to be laden, or mounted, and those ugly humps are provisions of fat, which supply them with nourishment, if, during their long journeys, there is a scarcity of provisions. One of their most invaluable properties is the length of time which they can go without drinking, owing to the large secretion of water in their honeycomb stomach, while in times of intolerable privation, they may be killed, and so save their masters from starvation.