‘ RIGGING’ 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. 
