Chap. III. A WHITE MULE. 233 
that the latter becomes dispersed ; and this is the reason 
that, in these journeys, saddle-horses are not allowed to go 
loose, but are led by a cord. 
A large drove of mules, however, generally contains one 
or another democratic individual, which has attained to 
the consciousness of its natural animal dignity and native 
rights, and therefore asserts a kind of independence. We 
had, for instance, in our drove, a white mule which regu- 
larly separated from the others at the time of harnessing. 
When the mules were driven from the pasture into the 
waggon-encampment, where they are caught by the laso, 
the white mule accompanied the rest up to the entrance ; 
but here it made a sudden leap aside, ran off to the dis- 
tance of half-a-mile, and from this point watched the camp 
with fixed attention, until the caravan was in motion. It 
then returned quietly, and joined the relay. Sometimes, 
to show who was master, two Mexicans were sent out to 
catch the fugitive ; and the animal was then, of course, 
harnessed for the day. The loss of time, however, and 
the fatigue of the saddle-horses, prevented a repetition of 
these measures. The animal had its own way, and, whilst 
its brethren were hard worked, it made simply a journey 
of pleasure from the Missouri to Chihuahua. 
An educated Mexican told me a counterpart to this. 
In a certain convent, six mules were kept, each of which 
was employed daily by turns : one of these animals knew 
its own day in the week so well that, on that morning, it 
regularly endeavoured to keep the yard-door closed, by 
planting itself against it, and thus preventing the servant's 
coming to fetch it to work. 
It is impossible to describe the scene of the first harness- 
ing of some hundred mules, until then quite wild, and 
which have never had a bit in their mouths, nor a saddle 
