MULES, AND THEIR ADAPTABILITY. 149 



mule for most purposes in which appearance 

 is subservient to utility being generally 

 admitted. These merits are said to be 

 greater endurance, capability of labour, free- 

 dom from disease, longevity, and economy 

 of keep — a catalogue of virtues so con- 

 spicuous that it is believed by those best 

 acquainted with the animal that, were these 

 qualities better known to English employers 

 of horse-labour, the mule would very soon 

 be as generally used in this country as it 

 already is abroad. 



The popular British idea of the mule is 

 that it is an animal of small size and power, 

 somewhat larger and better than a donkey, 

 but of course utterly inferior to the most 

 indifPerent horse for any kind of work. 

 This appears to be a very mistaken estimate, 

 founded entirely upon insular inexperience 

 of an animal, our acquaintance with which 

 is usually limited to one or two chance- 

 bred specimens, which have been treated as 



