180 ° NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE.

to turn on their assailants and put them to speedy and
anxious flight.

The Sagacity Duli though he appears to be, the ass show

of the Ass. himself on occasion to be possessed of no little
invention in matters that concern his liberty and comfort.
His aptitude for lifting latches and drawing bolts has often
been observed. Mr. Fuller describes the actions of an ass
he saw, who put his head sideways between the bars of
a gate and turning it into its normal position lifted the
gate over the latch and pushed it forward, withdrawing his
head after he had opened the gate and proceeding to enjoy
the dainties of the field into which he had thus effected an
entrance. A still more remarkable instance is given by Mr.
East who says: “While living on the Sussex coast, I had
myself a very fine donkey, which was a remarkably docile
and knowing animal. He was the constant companion of my
children in their rambles on the downs, and on those occa-
sions seemed to think he had a right to share in all the
eatables and drinkables, and would do so most readily,
whether cakes, apples, oranges, sweetmeats, milk, or even
tea; ginger-beer being the only exception. With this he was
thoroughly disgusted, in consequence of the cork, which had
been expelled from the bottle with the usual loud report,
having struck him on the nose. This he never forgot; but
would quickly march off whenever a ginger-beer bottle was
produced. But his cleverness and cunning were more especi-
ally shown in the following incident :—His lodging-place at
night was a small, open shed, whence he had free access to
a yard; but not, of course, to the kitchen-garden which
adjoined it. The latter was separated from the yard by a
wall and door, fastened securely, as we imagined, by two
bolts and an ordinary latch. We were, however, surprised to
find that the door had been unfastened during the night,
while the footprints of the donkey on the garden walks and
beds too plainly told who had been the trespasser. Still we