COMPARISON WITH OTHER ANIMALS 287 



kicking, and becoming generally refractory. It is 

 generally supposed that they live from fifteen to twenty 

 years, though some live to thirty, and a few beyond 

 that age. When I was in India fifteen years ago there 

 were mules belonging to the Commissariat who were 

 said to have been twenty-two years in the service, and 

 were still working. In embarking some at Suez for 

 service in Suakim, in 1884, one baffled all our efforts to 

 get him on board for a very long time. He was a 

 perfect demon, and attacked the men open-mouthed 

 when they went to sling him. He was uncommonly 

 cunning as well, for no sooner did he make his rush 

 than he used to slew round like a teetotum and clear 

 the ground with his hind legs. Then when we 

 managed to get into close quarters with him, his teeth 

 and fore legs were brought into play. Even when we 

 had lassoed, thrown, and gagged him it was no use, for 

 he still made use of his hind and fore legs most violently. 

 However, finally we managed to tie these together, and 

 after a tremendous struggle we got him into the sling 

 and on board ; but about thirty mules could have been 

 slung in the time. This, however, was an exceptional 

 case. The Indian pack mule, or I should say the pack 

 mule used in India, ranging between twelve and thirteen 

 hands, is by far the best I have seen. I dislike taller 

 mules for pack work. The shorter ones are handier 

 and much easier to load, much more so when they 

 are fresh and obstreperous, as at the beginning of 

 a march or after a rest. In the Egyptian Expedition 

 of 1882 I worked with 400 Sicilian mules, and splendid 

 animals they were too, but, on the whole, they were in 

 my opinion a trifle too tall for pack work, At Ismailia, 



