98 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 



those playful capers which give such expression to the well- 

 bred horse, particularly in its youthful state. It is evident, 

 however, that it discriminates men and things more clearly 

 than does the horse. In going over difficult ground it studies 

 its surface, and picks its way so as to secure a footing in an 

 almost infallible manner. Even when loaded with a pack, it 

 will consider the incumbrance and not so often try to pass 

 where the burden will become entangled with fixed objects. 



Mules soon learn the difference between those who have 

 the care of them and strangers. It is a well-known fact that 

 trouble awaits the wight who unwarily ventures to take from 

 the stall a mule which has not the advantage of his acquaint- 

 ance. On this account they are rarely stolen. Even in the 

 daytime they are often dangerous for strangers to approach, 

 and the most of the ill-usage which men receive from their 

 heels arises where unwitting people venture to treat them as 

 they would horses. Mules are much less liable to panic-fear 

 than the most of our domesticated animals, yet, when kept in 

 the herded way, they occasionally become stampeded. Many 

 a soldier of our Civil War, where mules played a large part in 

 the campaigns, doubtless remembers the mad outbreaks of 

 these creatures from their corrals, when they went charging 

 through the army with a fury which, if directed against an 

 enemy, would have been almost as effective as a cavalry 

 charge. 



It is interesting to note that mules have a greater dispo- 

 sition to adopt a leader in their movements than we note in 

 either of the species whence they come. In the old days 

 when mules were plentifully bred in Kentucky, and taken 

 thence for sale to the plantation States, they went forth in 

 droves, commonly under the leadership of a bell horse, or, by 



