with 



all 



180 HARXESSING PACK-MFLES. 



such advantage. These mules wdll travel for 

 hundreds of miles with a load of the most 

 bulky and unwieldy articles, weighing fre- 

 quently three or four hundred pounds. 



The Aparejo (or pack-saddle, if it can be so 

 styled), IS a large pad, consisting of a leathern 

 case stuffed with hay, which covers the back 

 ot the mule and extends half way down on 

 both sides. This is secured Avith a wide sea- 

 grass bandage, with v/hich the poor brute is 

 so tightly laced as to reduce the middle of its 

 body to half its natural size. During the 

 operation of lacing, the corseted quadiuped 

 stands trembhng in perfect agony, not an inapt 

 emblem of some fashionable exquisites who 



are to be met ""^'- ^ • • ■ 



the principal 



The muleteers contend that a ?ightly laced 

 beast, wiU travel, or at least support burdens, 

 ^vith greater ease ; and though they cany this 

 to an extreme, still we can hardly doubt that 

 a reasonable tension supports and braces the 

 muscles It is necessary too for the oparcjo to 

 be hrmly bound on to prevent its slipping 

 and chafing the mule's back ; indeed, with aU 

 tbese precautions, the back, withers and sides 

 ot the poor bmte are oflen horribly man..... 

 so much so that I have seen the rib-bones bare, 

 from day to day, while cariying a usual load 

 o three hundred pounds ! The aparejo is also 

 lurnished with a huge crupper, which often 



mckr. '.w 'f ^°^* «hockingl'y. It is this 

 \TJT^ A l^^'^^''^ ^^^t of the lasting cica- 



mules ^ ^"^ common upon Mexican 



