HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 



3 5 



burthens, particularly in mountainous and flony places, 



where Horfes are not fo fure-footed. —The fize and 



ftrength of our breed have lately been much improved 

 by the importation of Spanifti Male-AfTes ; and it were 

 much to be wimed, that the ufeful qualities of this animal 

 were more attended to: For, by proper care in its break- 

 ing, its natural obftinacy would in a great meafure be cor- 

 rected and it might be formed with fuccefs, for the fad- 

 die, the draught, or the burthen. 



People of the firft quality in Spain are drawn by 

 Mules, where fifty or fixty guineas is no uncommon 

 price for one of them ; nor is it furprizing, when we 

 confider how far they excel the Horfe in travelling in a 

 mountainous country, the Mule being able to tread fe- 

 curely where the former can hardly ftand. — Their man- 

 ner of going down the precipices of the Alps, the Andes, 

 &c. is very extraordinary ; and with it we will conclude 

 their hiftory. In thefe paflages, on one fide, are fteep 

 eminences, and on the other, frightful abyiTes; and, as 

 they generally follow the direction of the mountain, the 

 road, inftead of lying in a level, forms at every little 

 diftance fteep declivities, of feveral hundred yards down- 

 ward. Thefe can only be defcended by Mules; and the 

 animal itfelf feems fenfible of the danger, and the cau- 

 tion that is to be ufed in fuch defcents. When they 

 come to the edge of one of thefe precipices, they flop 

 without being checked by the rider j and if he inadver- 

 tently attempt to fpur them on, they continue immovea- 

 ble. They feem all this time ruminating on the danger 

 that lies before them, and preparing themfelves for the 

 encounter. They not only attentively view the road, 

 but tremble and fnort at the danger. Having prepared 

 for the defcent, they place their fore feet in a pofture, as 



