Beeton's book of poultry and domestic animals - Thurman Lodge ...

THE DONKET.
interest in seeing how near a chance I ran of striking or being
struck. Sometimes there seemed no hope of avoiding a violent
collision, but by a series of most remarkable dodges, he gene-
rally managed to bring me through in safety. The cries of
the driver running behind gave me no little amusement. The
howadji comes ! Take care on the right hand ! Take care on
the left hand ! Take care, O man ! Take care, maiden
Oh, boy, get out of the way ! The howadji comes ! Kish (the
name of the donkey driver) had strong lungs and his donkey
would let nothing pass him, and so wherever we went we con-
tributed our full share of noise and confusion.''
It would be difficult to find among brute kind a better fellow
than the donkey, or one more easy to manage. The meanest
stable, the coarsest food, are by him considered favours, and
most gratefully received, and in exchange you are heartily
welcome to all his sturdy strength and good will. Properly
tended and groomed and with a decent harness on his back, he
is far from an unhandsome beast; indeed, the diiference in
appearance presented by a donkey so treated compared with
that of one whose constant food consists of chaff, tea-leaves,
and cabbage-leaves, whose curry-comb is the stock of an old
waggon whip, and whose stable is the domestic washhouse,
must be seen to be believed. Even when kept in such an
abject state its diseases are very few and mostly of a character
that cleanliness and proper feeding would obviate. As to the
age a donkey may attain without adopting the vulgar dogma
that it " never dies at all," it may be safely said that it has a
fair chance of outliving its master, supposing them to come
together, boy and foal. There was one of these animals that
many years ago drew up water from the well at Oarisbrook
Castle, in the Isle of Wight ; what the age of this donkey was
when he first took to water-drawing is not known, but it is
certain that he faithfully fulfilled the task for fifty-two years,
when he came to an untimely end by falling over the ramparts
of the castle.
The ass's time for going with young is about eleven months,
and seldom more than one foal is produced at a birth. At
the age of four years the animal is in its prime. It is wonder-
ful how Nature will assert herself deprived of all artificial processes
brought to bear against her. Here we see the ass, whose
progenitors, dead two or three centuries, were stabled and fed
on grass and clover just as he is, preferring the dry, coarse
thistle to the juiciest herbage, drinking as sparingly as though
!