138 ANIMALS USED IN WAR. 



Mountain Artillery of India. 



The mules of Mountain Artillery in India, both British and 

 Indian Batteries, deserve special mention. They seldom ail 

 anything, and of all units in the Indian Army they give the 

 least trouble to Veterinary Service both in peace and war. 

 They are of a superior class, sturdy and stout, 13-2 to 14-1, with 

 good straight backs — an essential feature of a pack mule. They 

 are household words in a matter of condition and fitness, and 

 they have the further merit of being unshod, for the reason that 

 they are all the more able to get better foot-hold in ascending the 

 mountains. They are a Cosmopolitan assembly, with numbers 

 hailing from the United States, Argentine, China, Cyprus, and 

 the Punjab with American ancestry. I remember the first ship- 

 ment of North American mules (brand G.H.) purchased at 

 Lathrop, Missouri, by Major Gough in 1902 from Messrs. 

 Guyton and Harrington. They were perfection in mule kind. 

 Mr. Guyton expressly desired Major Gough to select the very 

 best he could find, to let the Indian Government, as he said, see 

 what the United States and his firm could produce. I daresay 

 some of these original G.H. mules are still in existence. They 

 were very highly appreciated. 



Indian Transport Mules. 



Indian Transport is Pack and Draught, the mules ranging up 

 to 13-3 ; the pack load is 160 lb and the draught a load of 10 

 maunds or 800 lb. for a pair of mules in an A.T. Cart. Mules 

 are either Argentine, Chinese, or Country-bred. The record, of 

 the Transport mule of India in War is now remarkably good, 

 inefficiency in recent Frontier expeditions being usually about 

 2' 6 per cent, or 3 per cent. — a much improved state of affairs 

 from campaigns of former days in which sore-backs abounded. 



Perhaps the most trying circumstances under which Indian 

 Transport animals have laboured during Indian expeditions was 

 the Tibet mission of 1904, and the merit of the mules which 

 took part is well illustrated in the Veterinary Eeport of that 

 Mission. The Senior Veterinary Officer of the Mission remark- 

 ed as follows : — 



" I cannot speak too highly of the Mule Corps engaged in 

 Tibet. They did rough work daily over snow, ice, etc., and in 

 all sorts of weather, including frost to the extent of 57 degrees. 



