THE MULE TRADE 55 



village of Rosario de Lerma, nine miles south of it, 

 where most of the caravans are formed. The saltpetre 

 works make yearly contracts in advance with the 

 Rosario dealers, fixing the number and price of the 

 beasts to be dehvered at Calama. The cost of trans- 

 port includes, besides the pay of the cattle-drivers 

 — eighty to a hundred piastres a journey — the shoeing 

 of the mules, the rent of pasture at San Pedro, and the 

 value of the beasts which die on the way. In 19 13 

 the number of animals exported by this route was put 

 at 30,000. The saltpetre works buy also draught- 

 mules for their waggons. Draught-mules must be 

 heavy, and only animals over five feet in height are 

 sent to Chile. Bolivia is now the only market for the 

 smaller mules and for asses. 



The trade in mules in its traditional form and the 

 industry of breaking-in still flourish at Santa Maria. 

 The mule-dealer's business is very different from that 

 of the cattle-dealer. The mules are so tough that it 

 is possible to send them by roads which would be un- 

 suitable for cattle. I The journeys are longer, and the 

 contracts are less settled in advance. Moreover, 

 breaking-in is a delicate operation that requires experi- 

 ence. The survival of the mule-trade at Santa Maria 

 is an example of the maintenance of an industry owing 

 to the presence of skilled handicraft. The men who 

 break in the mules at Santa Maria have a remarkable 

 caste-pride. Their first job is to go to Santiago or 

 Cordoba to buy the mules. They bring them back to 

 Santa Maria by way of Catamarca or the valley of 

 Tafi. At Santa Maria the mules are broken in, then 

 taken to the lucerne-farms at Poma to be put into good 

 condition. There they remain in pasture for several 

 months ; and at length, when the season is suitable, 

 the httle band of Santa Marieiios gathers together and, 



• For instance, herds of mules are taken from Abrapampa, on the 

 line of the Quiaca, to the saltpetre mines of Antof agasta, whereas every 

 effort to convey cattle by this route has failed. 



