' EIGGING ' FOR A MULE. 205 



tice to pack and lash goods properly on to an 

 aparacjo; but, believe me, the knowledge to a 

 traveller is worth all the time and trouble it takes 

 to acquire. 



The great thing to accomplish in the con- 

 struction of a pack-saddle is to avoid the use of 

 wood, buckles, fixed lining, and stitching where 

 any strain is required. An aparacjo is simply 

 two large leather bags fastened together at the 

 top : sew two bed-pillows together by the ends, 

 stuff them tightly with hay, hang them across 

 the back of a dog (or a chair will do), fasten them 

 firmly with a wide canvas girth, imagine them 

 to be made of strong leather, and you have an 

 extemporised aparacjo before you. 



The ' rigging ' for a mule consists of 1. The 

 Aparacjo, which varies in size from five feet in 

 height or length to three feet six inches, the width 

 being about two to two-and-a-half feet, the weight 

 of an average-sized one being from thirty-six to 

 forty pounds when dry, of course much heavier 

 when wet. The value in California is about fifty 

 dollars (10/.). 2. The Synch which is a wide 

 canvas girth with a leather strap at the end, that 

 runs through a wooden eye or iron ring should 

 be one foot six inches wide, and about twenty 

 feet long; its use is to fasten on the aparacjo. 



