DONKEY-RIDING AT MARGATE, OR THE MARCH OF HUMANITY.
TO THE EDITOR. OF THE SPECTATOR.
Oval, Kennington, 14th September 1832.
SIR—Having last week seen an account in a newspaper of the conviction of a fellow, by the officers of the "Animal's Friend Society," for having cruelly beaten an ass, I could not help wishing that the Society would send the officers to Margate where an abundant field is open for their labours ; net only as re- gards the lower classes, but those termed gentlemen and ladies, cr the tender sex, who, in their donkey parties, or the marches of humanity, set a poor ex-. ample to the ignorant, and ought themselves to be convicted and exposed. I do confess, that during a short stay there, on business, .I have been so annoyed by the cruel amusements of this vulgar watering-place, that I have deprived myself of staying a few days and inhaling a little fresh air, as Iliad intended. It is really distressing to see the race of half-starved donkeys. there ridden to death, from morning till night, and for miles together, by a set of ponderous and well-fed lubbers, more able to carry the poor animals than the animals them, and em- ploying a wretch behind to cudgel them on by blows sounding like a drum ! rink the riders keep tugging the bridle so as almost to break the creatures' Jaws; the vacant and grinning countenances of these idlers, with their useless legs dangling almost to the ground, and the haggard appearance cf the unfor- tunate quadrupeds they oppress, forming a striking contrast. No soonevare they selieved.of .onethre.den than another is imposed, at sixpence per hour; yet so
common are these practices, that not a passenger appears at all to notice them. But in order to judge better, the donkeys should be seen when the saddles are removed, when the disgusting sight of a back-bone, without skin, is often beheld. The replacing of the saddle should also be witnessed, when the animals plainly evince their horror of their renewed approaching torture. Still, pro- vided the riders are at ease themselves, they care not whether they press on a sore or a sound place, or they conclude that the animals' backs are as hard as their own hearts.
I could not, however, help once being amused at the discomfiture of one of these huge fellows, whose poor little donkey could not carry him as fast as if he had been a feather ; when he angrily told the driver to "lay it in well," and the obedient driver began hammering away with all his might, which caused the animal to wince, so that one of the blows unluckily fell on the rider's thigh. How the fellow did swear, and roar, and blubber! He became heartily sick of his ride, and soon took to his natural legs ; when, to his great mortification, he found the blow which was intended to make the ass go, made himself stand still from the lameness it produced, and he was obliged to hobble home in the rain as
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