WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



had begun our march. Our course, however, had 

 been an exceedingly roundabout one, including a 

 great deal of very bad country, where no road or 

 trail existed. These mules made no attempt to 

 trace it back, but struck straight across the coun- 

 try. They were chased many miles, and showed 

 not the least hesitancy in choosing their way, 

 keeping straight on across the rolling plain, with 

 a haste which seems not to have diminished until 

 Rawlins was almost reached, when they were caught 

 by some prospectors. For weeks they had to be 

 kept carefully hobbled to prevent a repetition of 

 the experiment. 



How did these animals know the direction with 

 such certainty? Mules frequently follow a very 

 obscure trail backward for many miles, and, even 

 more than horses, may be trusted to find the way 

 home in the dark ; but this is only when they have 

 been over the road before, and is quite as fully due 

 to their superior eyesight as to their strong sense 

 of locality. I have also seen mules following the 

 trail of a pack-train a few hours in advance, al- 

 most wholly by scenting; but the two runaways 

 before mentioned had no other conceivable help 

 in laying their course than some distant mountain- 

 tops north and east of (and hence behind) them, 



228 



