176 STORIES ABOUT HORSES.

stages well; on his return he came in without
the aid of a whip, at the rate of seven miles in
an hour, and performed the whole journey
with ease.”’

“ T was not aware that speed was one of the
characteristics of the Ass, Uncle Thomas.”’

“In a wild state, John, they are remark-
ably swift. Indeed it is with the greatest
difficulty they are overtaken. A traveller in
India, who visited a region where they abound,
discovered several herds of them; amounting to
sixty or seventy. Anxious to obtain a nearer view
of them, he galloped. towards them ; but although
mounted on a horse of proved speed, he never
was able to approach them nearer than twenty
yards. Dull and unintelligent as the poor Ass
seems to be, he is far from being so in reality.—
A few years ago one was employed at Caris-
brook Castle, in the Isle of Wight, in drawing
water by a large wheel from a very deep well,
supposed to have been sunk by the Romans.
When his keeper wanted water, he would say