Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of AnimalsLee, R., Mrs.
General
Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of Animals
Lee, R., Mrs.
Animal behavior -- Juvenile literature
Mr. Bell describes an ass which belonged to his grandfather, who was so
swift, that matches were made against him by the possessors of the
fastest asses which could be found; but he beat them all, and even
followed the hounds, coming up in gallant style, at the death of the
fox.
The well-known antipathy between the horse and the ass is scarcely to
be explained, and has been often overcome; nevertheless, it always more
or less exists, and many instances are on record in which it has caused
inconvenience. One of these I can supply, which occurred when I was in
Portugal. I started on a donkey to make a drawing of the great aqueduct
which supplies Lisbon with its delicious water, and just as I had chosen
my position, and established myself, my husband rode up on a beautiful
and valuable horse, belonging to a friend. He wished to procure some
specimens of the neighbouring rocks, and not liking to take a borrowed
animal among them, he desired my donkey guide to hold his steed as well
as mine. The boy obeyed; and Mr. Bowdich soon disappeared among the
hollows. For a few minutes the horse stood quietly enough; but from the
beginning he gave very significant glances at the companion forced upon
him. At last he worked himself into a complete passion; snorted,
pranced, reared, tossed his head, dilated his nostrils, and tried to
reach the ass with his fore feet. He was prevented from doing this by
the boy, who opposed him with much temper and courage; he then tried to
turn round and kick the object of his indignation, who was by no means
disposed to take the insult quietly. The boy let go the ass, who gave
one fling at the horse, and then went very quietly to nibble the grass,
lying in patches on the rough ground. The horse, however, now tried to
get at the donkey; broke his bridle, pursued him, and both scampered
off, the former doing just the very thing Mr. Bowdich wished to avoid. I
was obliged to start up suddenly to get out of their way; my pencils and
paper all made independent excursions, and the only thing to be done,
was for me to catch the donkey, and the boy to catch the horse. Mine was
much the easiest task; but both being accomplished, we kept them apart,
the ass standing quietly enough, but the horse refusing to behave
himself unless the boy mounted on his back, and rode him up and down on
the smoothest path he could find. At length Mr. Bowdich returned, and
thought all that had passed a good joke, in which I could not agree with
him. He rode away; and I quietly finished my sketch.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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