218 BEUTAL TEEATMENT Book II. 
superseded them. Teams of mules are quicker than yokes 
of oxen, and the mule is also better able to endure heat and 
want of water. Mules, however, cost three times as much 
as oxen, and in the Indian territory they are a property far 
more in danger. Oxen are seldom stolen by the Indians, 
whereas the stealing of mules is regarded by them as a great 
and honourable exploit. The large demand for draught- 
cattle of both kinds for the numerous caravans travelling 
west, has naturally given a considerable stimulus to cattle- 
breeding in the State of Missouri. The mules reared here 
are noted for their beauty, size, and strength, and although 
inferior to the small Mexican mules in briskness and en- 
durance, they readily find purchasers even in Mexico, where 
they are sought for chiefly for carriage teanjs: the trading 
caravans, therefore, passing between the Missouri frontier 
and Northern Mexico generally bring back only part of 
their mules. From California, Oregon, and Utah, draught- 
cattle very rarely return to the east : a part of them die 
on the road — a much larger proportion of oxen than mules 
— which is partly owing to the former having much less 
power of endurance, and partly to their not being treated 
with the same care, being a less valuable property. In this 
manner the caravans across the prairies cause a very con- 
siderable traffic in animals, independent of the exportation 
of cattle to California and Oregon. 
I remained at Independence from July 5 to August 17, 
our caravan being detained for the arrival of merchandize 
from New York and by the purchase of the necessary mules. 
During my stay here I witnessed the stupid and brutal 
treatment to which draught-cattle are sometimes exposed. 
It is perhaps natural : waggoners are in no country noted 
for their refinement, and least of all can we expect to find 
this in a system of transport, in which the labour of the 
