50 LIFE IN THE FAR WEST 



Dismounting, and unhitching from the horn of his 

 saddle the coil of skin rope, one end of which was 

 secured round the neck of the horse, he proceeded to 

 unsaddle ; and whilst so engaged, the three mules, two 

 of which were packed, one with the unbutchered carcass 

 of a deer, the other with a pack of skins, &c., followed 

 leisurely into the space chosen for the camp, and, 

 cropping the grass at their ease, waited until a whistle 

 called them to be unpacked. 



The horse was a strong square-built bay; and, although 

 the severities of a prolonged winter, with scanty pasture 

 and long and trying travel, had robbed his bones of fat 

 and flesh, tucked up his flank, and " ewed " his neck ; 

 still his clean and well-set legs, oblique shoulder, and 

 withers fine as a deer's, in spite of his gaunt half-starved 

 appearance, bore ample testimony as to what he had 

 been ; while his clear cheerful eye, and the hearty appe- 

 tite with which he fell to work on the course grass of 

 the bottom, proved that he had something in him still, 

 and was game as ever. His tail, gnawed by the mules 

 in days of strait, attracted the observant mountaineers. 



" Hard doins when it come to that," remarked La 

 BontS. 



Between the horse and two of the mules a mutual 

 and great affection appeared to subsist, which was no 

 more than natural, when their master observed to his 

 companions that they had travelled together upwards 

 of two thousand miles. 



One of these mules was a short, thick-set, stumpy 

 animal, with an enormous head surmounted by propor- 



