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&nd a she-ass, or between a jack-ass and a inar<* 

 The latter breed is every way preferable, being lar- 

 ger, stronger, and better shaped. The common mule 

 is found very serviceable in carrying burthens, parti- 

 cularly in mountains and stony places. Their manner 

 of going down the precipices of the Alps is very 

 extraordinary. In these passages, on one side, ar 

 steep eminences, and on the other, frightful abysses; 

 andj as they generally follow the direction of the 

 mountain, the road, instead of lying in a level, forms 

 at every little distance steep declivities, of several 

 hundred yards downward. These can only be de- 

 scended by mules, and the animal itself seems sensi- 

 ble of the danger. When they conic to the edge of 

 one of these descents, they stop of themselves without 

 being checked by the rider; and, if he inadvertently 

 attempts to spur them on, they continue immovable. 

 They seem ruminating and preparing themselves for 

 the encounter. They not only attentively view the 

 road, but tremble and snort. Having prepared for 

 the descent, they place their fore-feet in a posture, 

 as if they were stopping themselves ; they then put 

 their hinder feet together, but a little forward, as 

 if they were going to lie down. In this attitude, 

 having taken as it were a survey of the road, they slide 

 down with the swiftness of a meteor. In the mean 

 time, all the rider has to do, is to keep himself fast 

 on the saddle, without checking the rein, for the least 

 motion is sufficient to disorder the mule ; in which 

 case they both unavoidably perish. But their 'ad. 

 dress in this rapid descent, is truly .wonderful ; for in 

 their swiftest motion, when they seem to have lost 

 all government of themselves, they follow 7 exactly the 

 different windings of the road, as if they had previ- 

 ously settled in their minds the route they were to 

 follow. iti this journey, the natives who are placed 

 along the sides of the mountains, and hold by the 

 roots ot the trees, animate the beast with shouts, and 

 N encourage him to perseverance. 



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