ation]

ANECDOTE XCVIII.

An Ass Cast Away.

An ass, belonging to a captain in the Royal Navy, then at Malta, was
shipped on board a frigate, bound from Gibraltar for that island. The
vessel struck on some sands off the Point de Gat, and the ass was thrown
overboard, in the hope that it might possibly be able to swim to the land;
of which, however, there seemed but little chance, for the sea was running
so high, that a boat which left the ship was lost. A few days after, when
the gates of Gibraltar were opened in the morning, the guard were
surprised by Valiant, as the ass was called, presenting himself for
admittance. On entering, he proceeded immediately to the stable of a
merchant, which he had formerly occupied. The poor animal had not only
swam safely to the shore, but without guide, compass, or travelling map,
had found his way from Point de Gat to Gibraltar, a distance of more than
two hundred miles, through a mountainous and intricate country,
intersected by streams, which he had never traversed before, and in so
short a period, that he could not have made one false turn.

[Illustration]

ANECDOTE XCIX.

Honours Paid to Living and Departed Worth.

The people of Athens, when they had finished the temple called
_Hecatompedon_, set at liberty the beasts of burden that had been chiefly
employed in that work, suffering them to pasture at large, free from any
further service. It is said that one of these afterwards came of its own
accord to work, and putting itself at the head of the labouring cattle,
marched before them to the citadel. The people were pleased with this
spontaneous action, and made a decree that the animal should be kept at
the public charge as long as it lived. Many have shown particular marks of
regard in burying animals which they had cherished and been fond of. The
graves of Cimon's mares, with which he thrice conquered at the Olympic
games, are still to be seen near his own tomb. Xanthippus, whose dog swam
by the side of his galley to Salamis, when the Athenians were forced to
abandon their city, afterwards buried it with great pomp upon a
promontory, which to this day is called the _Dog's Grave_. In Pliny, we
have an amusing account of a superb funeral ceremony, which took place
during the reign of Claudius; in which the illustrious departed was no
other than a crow, so celebrated for its talents and address, that it was
looked upon as a sort of public property. Its death