THE ASS AND THE MULE 



163 



animals are indispensable in mountainous coun- 

 tries for the transportation of merchandise. 

 Their footing is firm and sure, and they can 

 carry a load of five hundred pounds for weeks 

 over trackless regions. They are also excel- 

 lent riding animals and are still much used for 

 private carriages in many of the southern coun- 

 tries of Europe ; they are also used for artillery 

 wagons. In America the mule is indispensable 

 in the sugar and cotton fields of the South. 



The production of mules is constant in Spain. 

 The government has endeavored to put a stop 

 to it, in favor of raising horses, but without 



or zebroids. Later several mares were mated 

 with the same zebra stallion and many foals 

 were obtained, the chief among them being 



A Zl-.HKULE 



appreciable results. Ciudad Real was formerly 

 the great market place for mules, ten thousand 

 being often for sale there, bringing high prices. 

 At three years of age they are usually worth 

 from eight hundred to nine hundred francs 

 ($160 to $180). The finest and handsomest 

 bring from twelve hundred to eighteen hundred 

 francs ($240 to $360). Mules are usually sterile, 

 though they ha\-e been known to have offspring, 

 but the latter have no vitality and die young. 



V. The Zebrule, or Zebroid 



Lately a Scotch naturalist, J. C. Ewarts, 

 who has made himself a name in this domain, 

 mated a zebra stallion, named Matopes, with a 

 mare from one of the Scotch islands. The 

 product was a foal which received the name 

 of Romulus, the new race being called zebrules. 



A I)11XK1.\ 



Sir John, a colt, and the fillies Bunda and 

 Black Agnes, which were both sold to Ham- 

 burg ; the English government then bought 

 them and sent them to India, where they were 

 trained for service in a moimtain battery. In 

 shape the zebroids are a cross between the 



" Kii.MlI.l : 



A C Ll,i.l-.ic.\ 1 M> /.i-i;iu l-l'. 



horse and the zebra. Romulus, born in i8g6, 

 derived from his father only very indistinct 

 stripes, while Sir John has them more clearly 

 defined. These zebroids are strong, manage- 

 able, and easy to train both for saddle and 

 harness ; it is hoped that they have inherited 

 the zebra's immunity from equine diseases. 



