Chap. III. MAN AND ANIMAL. 231 
hombres son barbaros, no saben nada ! " — these men are 
barbarians, they understand nothing ! — said one of these 
men to me on such an occasion. For instance, a little 
spirited mule, which afterwards became the favourite of 
the whole party and went by the pet name of " la 
Nina" resisted all the attempts of a big, stout Ken- 
tuekian to tame it; when Pedro, unable longer to bear 
it, exclaimed, " Let me try ! " and taking from his 
hand the end of the cord, which was tied in a noose 
round the animal's neck, he first let the mule, trembling 
with excitement, have a few minutes' rest ; then he 
approached it slowly and gently, patted its back, tickled 
its neck and behind its ears, and soothed it with words of 
endearment : " Nina I mulita I Mulita bonita ! " — 
O my child ! O my little mule ! My pretty little mule ! — ■ 
said he, in a soft tone. Meanwhile he drew the bridle 
over its head, and, unobserved, put the bit into its mouth, 
the creature offering no resistance. I remember another 
mule, to which his Mexican muleteer gave the classical 
name of Lais. Lais was in the same favour with Leandro 
as Nina was with friend Pedro. Once, however, I saw him 
in an indescribable rage with the animal. Trembling with 
fury, he raised the butt-end of his whip against it : " 0, 
si fueras Mejicana!" — Oh, were you but a Mexican ! — he 
muttered, letting his arm fall again. The Mexican did 
not dare to lay hands on the Anglo-Saxon beast. The 
Mexican drivers and muleteers are not only superior to the 
Anglo-American in patience, frugality, and good-humour 
under fatigue and privation, but also in manner. They 
do not swear ; for the occasional repetition of an improper 
word in the Spanish language cannot be compared to the 
innumerable curses of the Anglo-American driver. 
From drivers and muleteers we may pass to mules, 
