THE MULE. 33 



CHILE, 



Indies, into South America, where for a time they mingled 

 with the forms characteristic of that southern continent, and 

 have since become extinct. 



The horse was first landed at Buenos Ayres in 1537, and 

 the colony being then for a time deserted, the horse ran 

 wild. In 1580, only forty-three years afterward, we hear of 

 them at the Strait of Magellan ! 



THE MULE. 



WHEN about half-way up the Portillo Pass, we met a 

 large party with seventy loaded mules. It was interesting 

 to hear the wild cries of the muleteers, and to watch the 

 long descending string of the animals; they appeared so 

 diminutive, there being nothing but the bleak mountains 

 with which they could be compared. The madrina (or 

 godmother) is a most important personage: she is an old, 

 steady mare, with a little bell round her neck; and wher- 

 ever she goes, the mules, like good children, follow her. The 

 affection of these animals for their madrinas saves infinite 

 trouble. If several large troops are turned into one field to 

 graze, in the morning the muleteers have only to lead the 

 madrinas a little apart, and tinkle their bells ; and, although 

 there may be two or three hundred together, each mule im- 

 mediately knows the bell of its own madrina, and comes to 

 her. It is nearly impossible to lose an old mule; for if 

 detained for several hours by force, she will, by the power of 

 smell, like a dog, track out her companions (or rather the 

 madrina, for, according to the muleteer, she is the chief ob- 



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