148 CAVE AND CLIFF DWELLERS. 
and droves, so to speak. When we first 
started we had two groups of four and 
two leaders; then we changed to four 
abreast and two wheelers ; then, as the 
country grew a little rougher, they hitched 
two leaders to the six, making eight alto¬ 
gether. Now, again, we dropped to six 
mules in pairs, as we see them at home. 
As the last stretch was a tough one, we 
again had ten mules in sets of fours with 
two wheelers. This over a very rough 
mountain road. Here was versatility in 
mule driving that I never expected to see 
among a people that are generally re¬ 
ported by most American writers to be of 
a decidedly non-versatile character. 
When the Mexican mules are through 
staging they “ skirmish ” for a living, 
grazing off such grass as can be had, or 
in lieu thereof browsing on cottonwood 
