88 Stable Management and the Prevention of Disease 



Feeding Mules. 



A good mule of thirteen to fourteen hands high, wher* 

 properly fed, will carry a load of two maunds, or 160 pounds, 

 on a long march, and considerably more if merely working 

 for a few days. 



Those of average size will work very hard upon two sirs, 

 or about four pounds, of grain daily, provided they have 

 plenty of chaff, which they often prefer to grass, at least in 

 India. 



When chaff is not procurable, they will thrive upon the 

 stalks of vetches, maize, or millet. They will eat and digest 

 any kind of grain, and with plenty of good grass will work 

 without grain at all. 



Pack Saddles. 



With regard to pack-saddles, I have never seen one 

 belonging to Government which was not either very heavy or 

 liable to gall, unless perpetual attention were paid to the 

 stuffing. 



I strongly advise anyone employing Indian mules for 

 carrying his baggage, to use the native pack-saddle called 

 sunkha, supplied by the owners of the animals. I have 

 always done so when travelling about the Himalayas, and 

 have never had a mule disabled by a sore back. The Guides, 

 a large corps of both cavalry and infantry belonging to the 

 Punjab Government, retained the native pack-saddle with all 

 the baggage mules which they used during the late Afghan 

 campaign. The colonel commanding told me that they found 

 nothing superior to it, if so good, and that they had very few 

 sore backs. 



Sunkha. 



The sunkha has some defects, but it is light, and readily 

 adapts itself to the shape when the animals fall out of condi- 

 tion. It is composed of a tube of strong canvas, or soft leather, 

 about six inches in diameter, stuffed with long grass, and bent 



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