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A DESCRIPTION OF 
THE MULE. 
THIS useful and hardy animal is the offspring of the 
horse and the ass, and partakes of the good qualities of 
both. The common Mule is very healthy, and will live 
above thirty years. It is found very serviceable in car- 
rying burdens, particularly in mountainous and stony 
places, where horses are not so sure-footed. The size and 
strength of our breed have been much improved by the 
importation of Spanish male Asses ; and it is much to be 
wished that the useful qualities of this animal were more 
attended to ; for, by proper care in its breaking, its 
natural obstinacy would in a great measure be corrected ; 
and it might be formed with success for the saddle, the 
draught, or the burden. People of the first quality are 
drawn by Mules in Spain, where fifty and sixty guineas 
is no uncommon price for them ; nor is it surprising, 
when we consider how far they excel the horse in travel- 
ling in a mountainous country, the Mule being able to 
tread securely where the former can hardly stand. It is 
much less dainty in its food than the horse, and not so 
liable to disease ; and it has been known to go a distance 
of eighty or one hundred miles in one day, with a heavy 
weight on its back, without much fatigue. 
