DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11637#0339
AND LOWER EGYPT. 31 I
Though the Arabs do not take quite so much
pains to preserve the breed of their asses, as they
do for promoting the excellence of their horses, it
may be said with truth, that asses are no where at-
tended with so much care as in Egypt and Arabia.
They are regularly rubbed down and washed;
which renders their coat smooth, soft, and glossy :
and their food is the same as that of horses, com-
monly consisting of chopped straw, barley, and
small beans.
To add to the species of useful animals, or,
which is the same thing, to improve them so as to
render them more useful, is to increase the ad-
vantages of public and private economy. If, with-
out remitting our attentions to the horse, we
deigned to pay a little regard to the ass, though
placed by nature second in the scale, we could not
fail to be gainers. For the attainment of this use-
ful object, it would be necessary to cross the breed.
Arabian or Egyptian males would improve the *
offspring of our females in strength and beauty;
and these, by repeated crossings, would produce
with time and care an excellent breed of animals,
suited to the majority in point of expense, and not
destitute of pleasing qualities.
The handsomest asses seen at Cairo come from
Upper Egypt and Nubia. On ascending the Nile,
x 4. the
Though the Arabs do not take quite so much
pains to preserve the breed of their asses, as they
do for promoting the excellence of their horses, it
may be said with truth, that asses are no where at-
tended with so much care as in Egypt and Arabia.
They are regularly rubbed down and washed;
which renders their coat smooth, soft, and glossy :
and their food is the same as that of horses, com-
monly consisting of chopped straw, barley, and
small beans.
To add to the species of useful animals, or,
which is the same thing, to improve them so as to
render them more useful, is to increase the ad-
vantages of public and private economy. If, with-
out remitting our attentions to the horse, we
deigned to pay a little regard to the ass, though
placed by nature second in the scale, we could not
fail to be gainers. For the attainment of this use-
ful object, it would be necessary to cross the breed.
Arabian or Egyptian males would improve the *
offspring of our females in strength and beauty;
and these, by repeated crossings, would produce
with time and care an excellent breed of animals,
suited to the majority in point of expense, and not
destitute of pleasing qualities.
The handsomest asses seen at Cairo come from
Upper Egypt and Nubia. On ascending the Nile,
x 4. the