446 THE MCLE AND THE HI!< V 



degree as in themselves. The duration of life in the 

 Mule is known considerably to exceed that either 

 of the Horse or the Ass, The animal is also less 

 liable to disease, and capable of much greater bo- 

 dily exertion, than either; and, being nearly as 

 abstemious as the Ass, it is considered of much 

 greater value, where power and economy are both 

 wanted. 



In countries where the breed of Asses is suffici- 

 ently large, for obtaining Mules of considerable 

 size, these are preferred to all other animals, for 

 cheapness, durability, and general convenience, as 

 beasts of burthen. In England they have never 

 been propagated to any great extent ; and the few 

 that have been reared here, have, in general, been 

 the produce of such diminutive parents, as to ex- 

 hibit only a puny race, by no means calculated to 

 perform the services that a well managed breed 

 would be capable of. Yet even these, where they 

 have been used,, are found to possess many of those 

 bigbjy estimable qualities that are attributed to the 

 Spanish Mules, which are at this day considered to 

 be the finest in the world. 



We have one instance, at least, in which their 

 utility has been satisfactorih ascertained in our 



* J 



own country. The huge dray-horses employed at 

 die breweries in the neighbourhood of London, 

 are said to be, in a great measure, adopted on ac- 

 count of their being able, as fillers, to stand the 

 shaking of the slop-carts, and other ponderous 



loads. 



