Gis 



V ERTEBRATA. 



; 



.;> 1 in ISABELLA OF SPAIN MOUNTED ON A .MILK. 



dolUu . They will travel for months together, carrying from Beven to eight hundred weight on 

 backs. Mules are much used in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the East, and also in South 

 America and Mexico; many also arc employed in the Southern States on the plantations, and 

 them have lately been applied t<> the omnibus-cars in the city of New York. 

 'I'll.- mule is in fact an exceedingly hardy, strong, and useful animal. In all mountain coun- 

 . from its Bureness of foot, its instinctive caution in choosing the path, and its skillful 

 management in descending a perilous and steep track, it is eminently serviceable. Among 

 the And.-, in South America, it has nearly superseded the lama. In Spain, which is a mount- 

 ainous country, with few good roads, it is extensively used for carriages, and also for the 

 transportation of merchandise. His rider, the muleteer, has become the general medium of traffic 

 through the interior, and ha- long been recognized a- forming a curious and peculiar type of na- 

 tional manni i-. "Ho lives frugally and hardily ; his alforjas «( coarse cloth hold his scanty stock 

 ..f provisions; a leathern bottle, hanging at his Baddle-bow, contains wine or water for a supply 

 n mountains and thirsty plain-. A ninle-eloth spread upon the ground is his bed at 



night, and his pack-saddle is his pillow. Bis low hut clean-limbed and sinewy form betok 



ngth; hi- complexion is dark and sunburnt; his eye resolute but quiet in its expression, ex- 

 cept when kind!..l I>\ sudden emotion; his demeanor is frank, manly, and courteous, and he never 

 without a grave Balutation — i Dioa guarded ustedl \'<i usted con Dios, cabaUeroP 

 •1 guard \. I be with you, cavalier!'" Very elegant breeds of the mule have been 



i tor the saddle in Spain for centuries; some o( these animals are so docile and grace- 

 ful that tair dames, including even royalty itself, have preferred them to the gentle palfryand the 



net. 



