THE MULE BIT. 91 



genuine civility and courteous politeness of manner, 

 which seem really ingrain and national in all ranks ; 

 but from want of domestic convenience and proper drain- 

 age, their habits, in general, are simply indelicate and 

 abominable. 



THE DOi^KET BIT. 



The bit used with the Mexican burro (donkey) is small, 

 but of the same pattern and on the same principle as the 

 mule bit. This discouraged beast is sometimes spared 

 the extra torture of the hinge, and the little patient slave, 

 not much larger or stronger than the man on his back, 

 is punched, jerked about and beaten on the rump and 

 head with a club to enforce obedience or to punish him 

 for his inability or refusal to carry his pack or submit to 

 the most cruel class of men on earth to animals. Roast- 

 ing missionaries is a mere bagatelle compared to the bar- 

 barity of these men towards their domestic beasts of 

 burden, for the cannibal has something to gain in the 

 prospect of a good meal, while the burrero* has everything 

 to lose by clubbing the strength and spirit out of the 

 little animal that falls to the rear in his train, being un- 

 able to keep up under the burden of his pack, already 

 too heavy for him to bear. 



AVe were once riding up a hill near Cerro Gordo, on 

 the national road from Vera Cruz to Mexico. In advance 

 there was a freight train of one hundred burros winding 

 up the hill. The freight was bar iron, cut about eighteen 

 inches long for convenience in packing on the donkies. 

 One fine jack was loaded out of proportion to his extra 

 strength. The consequence was that he fell back in the 

 train and came under the convenient reach of the burrero's 

 murderous club, which, if hung up in Mr, Bergh's office, 

 would eclipse any of the choice selections exposed there as 

 samples of stable furniture for the accommodation of the 



♦Assd river. 



