CHAPTER VI. 
THROUGH THE SIERRA MADRES-ON MULE- 
BACK WESTWARD FROM CARICHIC. 
S our next month was passed on 
mule-back, and Mexican mule-back 
at that, I think it would be not at all in¬ 
appropriate to make a brief dissertation 
on this kind of brute for the necessary 
merits and demerits of the journey. 
The Mexican mule is a sort of a cross 
between a mountain goat and a flying 
squirrel, with the distinct difference that 
its surplus electricity flows off from the 
negative pole instead of the positive, as 
with the goat. It is in its meanderings 
on the mountain trail that it shines 
206 
