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HORSES. ASSES. ZEBRAS. MULES

AND

W. B. TEGETMEIER, M.B.O.U., E.Z.S.,

AND

C. L. SUTHERLAND, F.Z.S.,

Late op the War Office ; Attached to the British Commission

Philadelphia Exhibition, 1876 ; International Juror

Paris Exhibition, 1878 ; Assistant Commissioner,

Eoyal Commission on Agriculture, 1879.

LONDON :

HORACE COX,

'•FIELD" OFFICE, WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM'S BUILDINGS, E.C.

1895.

LONDON :

PRINTED BY HORACE COX, WINDSOR HOUSE,

bream's BUILDINGS, E.G.

PREFACE.

Upwards of four tliousand works on horses and their
utilization have been published^ and of this number about
one half have been printed in Great Britain. It may
therefore appear an act of presumption on the part of any
writer to augment the already lengthy list, but recently
new animals_, such as Prejevalski's horse and Grevy^s
zebra^ have been discovered; species hitherto untamed
have been pressed into the service of man, and new
hybrids have been reared which hold out the promise of
great utility.

Much knowledge has been gained by recent travellers
respecting the history and habits of species hitherto
imperfectly known, and, above all, a vast amount of in-
formation has been accumulated, proving the advantages
that are found to arise from utilizing the mule in almost
all civilized countries excepting England, in which country
no book on this useful hybrid has ever been published.
To supply this deficiency ; to demonstrate the great value
and economy of the mule as a beast of draught and
burden, that could be as advantageously employed in this
country in agricultural and general draught purposes as it
is by other nations, and by ourselves in all military
operations abroad, is in part the object with which this
work is published.

CONTENTS.

PART I.

HOESES, ASSES, AND ZEBRAS.

Chapter I.

The Horse

Chapter II.

page I

Prejevalsky's Horse

Chapter III.

African Wild Ass

Chapter IY,

Wild Ass of Somaliland

Chapter V.

Asiatic Wild Ass

Chapter VI,

Mountain Zebra

Chapter VII.

Grevy's Zebra ...

Chapter VIII.

Burcbell's Zebra

Chapter IX.

The Quagga ...

Chapter X.

Hybrid Equidse

••• ... ... ...

vi CONTENTS.

PART II.
MULES AND MULE BREEDINO.

Chapter XI.

The Utilisation of Mules

page 71

Chapter XII.

Non-fertility and Lactation in Mules

Chapter XIII.

The Poitou Mule

Chapter XIV.

Poitou Ass as a Sire of Mules

Chapter XV.

American Mule

107

Chapter XVI.

Mules for Military Service

127

Chapter XVII.

Practical Eemarts on the Use of Mules

138

APPENDIX.
MEMORANDUM ON MULE BREEDING IN INDIA.

LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.

Italian Razza Jack

Prejevalsky's Horse ...

African Wild Ass

Somali Wild Ass

Onager ...

Captured Onagers at Morvi ...

Kiang

Mountain Zebra

Zebra Broken to Saddle (in text)

Grevy's Zebra ...

Skin of Grevy's Zebra (in text)

Burchell's Zebra

Skin of Burchell's Zebra (in text)

Utilisation of Burchell's Zebra

Burchell's Zebra in Cape Cart

Burchell's and Mountain Zebra Contrasted

Quagga

Burchell's Zebra and Hybrid (in text)

Supposititious Mule ...

Brown Poitou Mule ...

Poitou Mule, Brunette

English Mule

PAGE

Frontispiece

facing

...

})

37
41

...

• • •

))

—

...

• ••

• • •

Vlll

LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.

Poitou Jack, Typical ...
Poitou Jack, Smooth-coated ...
Poitou Jack, Yearling ...
Poitou Jenny ...

Poitou Mare and Mule Foal

Gun Mule, Indian Mountain Battery
Packing Baggage Mules (in text)

PAGE

facing 95
„ 99

» 101
„ 103
„ 105
„ 129
132-133

PART I.
HORSES, ASSES, AND ZEBRAS.

CHAPTER I.
THE HORSE.

{Equus caballus. Linn.)

In the views of modern zoologists all tlie species of wild
horses, asses_, and zebras at present existing constitute but
one genus, distinguished by the name Equus, the separation
of the asses and zebras into distinct genera under the
names of Asinus and Hippotigris, as has been proposed
by some zoologists, not being generally accepted.

The number of the existing species of the genus Equus
cannot be accurately defined, but may be taken as not
exceeding twelve in number.

1. Equus caballus (the Horse).

2. Equus przewalskii (Prejevalsky's horse).

3. Equus asinus (African wild ass).

4. Equus asinus somalicus (Somali wild ass).

5. Equus onager (the Hemione).

6. Equus kiang (the Kiang).

7. Equus hemippus (the Hemippe).

8. Equus zebra (the Mountain zebra).

9. Equus burchellii (Burchell's zebra).

10. Equus chapmanii (Chapman's zebra).

11. Equus grevyi (Grevy's zebra).

12. Equus quagga (the Quagga).

Several of these, it is probable, are mere local varieties,

2 THE H0B8E.

or what naturalists term sub-species. This is possibly the
case with Prejevalsky's horse, and may be so with the
Somali ass. The kiang and the hemippe are now regarded
by naturalists as local varieties of the onager ; Chapman^s
zebra appears to be but a variation of the older known
Burchell's zebra; and the quagga is now generally
believed to have been exterminated.

The horse is distinguished from the other Equidse by
the tail being covered with long hair from its base to its
end ; it possesses also a small bare callus on the inner
side of the hind leg below the hock, in addition to the
one on the inner side of the foreleg, which is present in all
the other species. Further distinctions are the longer mane
and forelock, and shorter ears, whilst, in proportion to its
size, its limbs are longer, its hoofs broader, and its head
smaller than in the species known as wild asses and zebras.

An important distinction between the horse and the
other species of the genus, namely, the asses and zebras,
appears to have been overlooked or mis-stated by preceding
writers — namely, the difference in the period of gestation ;
this in the horse is eleven months, whilst in the asses and
zebras it exceeds twelve months, as evidenced in the
succeeding chapters on those animals.

It is remarkable that this difference should have been
so generally ignored. Thus, it is not mentioned by Capt.
Hayes in his " Points of the Horse,"^ although he devotes no
less than five pages to the enumeration of the " Differences
between the Ass and Horse." Again, Mr. Blanford,
in his '' Fauna of British India : Mammalia," writing of the
Asiatic wild ass, says : ^' The period of gestation is probably
the same as in the horse and ass, about eleven months,"
and Sir William Flower, in his "Mammals, Living and
Extinct," when describing the general characters of the

THE HORSE.

Equidae, states definitely *' the period of gestation is eleven
months/^

The distribution of the horse on the earth's surface at
the present time is largely owing to the agency of man.
In Europe wild horses were exceedingly abundant long-
before the historic period. Their remains are found
associated with those of man and domesticated animals
belonging to what is called the Neolithic or Stone period.
Representations of horses have been found carved on
bones and antlers in caves in the south of France, the
horse resembling that which is at present feral in the
Steppes of Russia and Tartary. Cassar records the ancient
Britons as using war chariots, and the horse is represented
in the monumental records of Egypt nearly 2000 years
before the Christian era. Horses have now been conveyed
to every part of the civilised world. It is probable,
though not quite certain, that the horse did not exist in
the historic period in America until after its discovery by
Columbus, although it is remarkable that fossil remains
of true horses are found in almost every part of America.
They then appear to have been exterminated and have
since been re-introduced by man, and have now become
feral in large numbers. The horse was undoubtedly
introduced by man into Australia, no hoofed animals
existing in that vast continent at the time of its discovery.

Whether there are any truly wild horses at the present
time — that is to say, animals whose ancestors have never
been domesticated — is doubtful. Sir William Flower says
that the nearest approach to the truly wild horse existing
at the present time are the so-called tarpans, which occur
in the Steppe country north of the Sea of Azoff. They
are small in size, dun colour, with short mane, and rounded
obtuse nose. There is no evidence to prove whether they

B 2

THE HOBSE.

are really wild — tliat is^ descendants of animals wliich.
have never been domesticated ; or feral — tliat is, descended
from animals wMcli liave escaped from captivity, like the
horses that roam over the plains of South America and
Australia, and the wild boars that now inhabit the forests
of New Zealand.

Enthusiastic as sportsmen and hunting men may be over
the form and endowments of the horse, it is hardly too
much to say that naturalists enjoy the contemplation of
this glorious creature with no less pleasure, tracing with
great interest the modifications that have taken place
from the forms of the old extinct horse-like animals as
shown in their fossil remains ; modifications which have
adapted the modern horse to the present condition of
things on the earth^s surface. The extinct horse-like
animals of the older world had large feet with three and
even four toes, with short legs adapted for walking on
marshy or yielding ground, like the tapirs and rhinoceroses
of modern times. Leaving out of consideration these,
extinct animals, and speaking of the modern horses only,
we find that the specimens of the genus Equus are
inhabitants of the plains, for which their whole organisation
is specially adapted.

It is interesting to compare the statements of two of the
most eminent zoologists regarding these equine animals.
The late Sir Richard Owen, in his ^^ Anatomy of Verte-
brates,'^ writes most graphically on the fitness of the
organisation of the horse for the needs of man, and he
speaks of the coincidence of the modification of the old
fossil forms into the present animals with the earliest
evidence of the human race. He fervently descants on
the fact that, of all the servants of man, none have proved
of more value to him. The horse, he says, since its subju-

THE HOBSE. 5

gation, has acquired nobler proportions_, liigher faculties^
more strengtli, more speedy and more amenability to
guidance.

'' No one (writes Sir Richard Owen) can enter the ' saddling
ground ' at Epsom, before the start for the Derby, without
feeling that the glossy-coated, 2:)roudly-stepping creatures led
out before him are the most perfect and beautiful of quad-
rupeds. As such, I believe the Horse to have been predestined
and prepared for Man. It may be weakness, but, if so, it is
a glorious one, to discern, however dimly, across our finite
prison wall, evidence of the ' Divinity that shapes our ends,'
abuse the means as we may."

Sir William Flower, the successor to Sir Richard Owen,
in describing the horse from a somewhat different stand-
point, speaks of the adaptation of its organisation to its life
on the open ]3lains, where it is found. He calls attention
to the length and mobility of the neck, the position of the
eye and ear, the great development of the organ of smell
(which gives the wild horses, asses, and zebras the means
of becoming aware of the approach of their enemies) , while
the length of their limbs, the angles which the different
segments form with each other, and the combination of
firmness, stability, and lightness resulting from the reduc-
tion of all the toes to a single one, upon which the whole
weight of the body and all the muscular power are concen-
trated, give them speed and endurance surpassing that of
almost any other animal.

" If we were not so habituated (writes Sir William Flower) to
the sight of the horse as hardly ever to consider its structure,
we should greatly marvel at being told of a mammal so strangely
constructed that it had but a single toe on each extremity, on
the end of the nail of which it walked or galloped. Such a
conformation is without a parallel in the vertebrate series, and

6 THE HOUSE.

is one of the most remarkable instances of specialisation, or
deviation from the usual type, in accordance with particular
conditions of life."

The consideration of the varieties of the horse, which
have resulted from its long domestication, does not come
within the scope of the present work, except as far as the
different breeds influence the character of hybrids between
the horse and the other species, a subject that will be fully
considered in the concluding chapters on Mules and
Mule Breeding.

1-9

CHAPTER II.
PREJEVALSKY'S HORSE.

{Eqtius przewalsMi. Poliahof.)

Much interest has been excited amongst naturalists re-
specting the existence of a supposed additional species of
horse, which was first brought to notice by, and subse-
quently named after, the distinguished Russian traveller
Prejevalsky.* His single specimen, which he presented
to the Zoological Museum of the Imperial Academy, St.
Petersburg, was not really captured by him, but was
given to him by the chief magistrate of the district of
Zaisan, it being at that time the only one that had been
obtained by the wild camel hunters in the deserts of
central Asia. A drawing of this animal was published
by Prejevalsky, and is accurately reproduced in the
engraving by Mr. Frohawk. The specimen was described
at considerable length by the Russian naturalist Poliakof
in the " Proceedings of the Russian Geographical
Society ^^ for January, 1881. This description was trans-
lated by Mr. E. Delmar Morgan, and published in the
^^ Annals and Magazine of Natural History^' for 1881.
Poliakof distinguishes the animal from the tarpans or

* In the above account I have employed the western mode of
spelling Prejevalsky's name, retaining the Russian form only when
used as the specific appellation, which, in accordance with the rules
governing scientific nomenclature, I cannot alter.

8 PREJEVALSKY'S H0B8E.

so-called wild horses of Tartary, whicli appear to be really
domestic horses that have recovered their liberty, and
maintains that it is a perfectly distinct species. In his
description he says that the specimen is about three years
old, its size is equal to that of the wild asses, but that its
head is better shaped near the end of the muzzle, and
has shorter ears than those of the wild ass. In shape it
takes after the horse, the legs being relatively thick for
the size of the body, the hoofs round and broader, and
the tail better furnished with hair than the wild ass. The
colour is dun, with a yellow tinge on the back, becoming
lighter towards the flank and almost white under the belly.
The hair is long and wavy, brick-red on the head, cheeks,
and lower jaw. The extremity of the nose is almost
covered with white hairs, in strong contrast to the red of
the other parts of the head. It has no forelock, but the
mane is short, upright, and ^' hogged, ^^ extending from
between the ears to the withers, and of a dark brown
colour. There is no dorsal stripe along the back, as in
the Asiatic asses. The upper half of the tail is the same
colour as the back, but it is longer and thicker at the root
than that of any kind of ass. The extremity of the tail
is covered with dark brown, or nearly black, hair. The
fore legs are brown near the hoofs and on the knees, a
peculiarity, he says, which is never known to occur with
wild asses, and dark hairs occur on the lower part of the
hind legs. The skull and the hoofs more closely resemble
those of the horse than any animal of the asinine group.
Such is Poliakof^s description of the animal ; commenting
on which Sir William Flower writes as follows :

" It is described as being so intermediate in character between
the equine and the asinine group of Equidse, that it completely
breaks down the generic distinction which some zoologists have

PBEJEVALSKTS HOESE. 9

thought fit to establish between them. It has callosities on all
four limbs, as in the horse, but only the lower half of the tail
is covered with long hairs, as in the ass. The general colour
is dun, with a yellowish tinge on the back, becoming lighter
towards the flanks, and almost white under the belly, and
there is no dark dorsal stripe. The mane is dark brown, short,
and erect, and there is no forelock. The hair is long and
wavy on the head, cheeks, and jaws. The skull and the hoofs
are described as being more like those of the horse than the
ass. Until more specimens are obtained, it is difficult to form
a definite opinion as to the validity of this species, or to resist
the suspicion that it may not be an accidental hybrid between
the kiang and the horse."

Additional specimens of this interesting animal have
recently been obtained. The Brothers Grijimailo met with
this wild horse in the desert of Dzungaria. The account
of their expedition^ which was published in the " Pro-
ceedings of the Eussian Geographical Society/' has been
translated, with notes by Mr. E. Delmar Morgan, and
published in the ^' Proceedings of the Eoyal Geographical
Society" for April, 1891. In their account they state as
follows :

" Springs enable the numerous animals inhabiting Dzungaria
to exist ; of these the most interesting is Prejevalsky's horse
(E. przewalskii) . The only known specimen of this animal,
in the Zoological Museum of the Imperial Academy, was
obtained by Prejevalsky from the chief magistrate of the
district of Zaisan, who had received it from the Kirghiz.
Prejevalsky himself, though he crossed the desert of Dzungaria
in three several directions, never came across any of these wild
horses, and if he wrote otherwise he was mistaking kulans
{E. onager) he had seen in the distance for wild horses, a
mistake the most experienced hunters are liable to make, for
at that distance it is almost impossible to distinguish between
them. It is only by their manner of holding themselves that

10 PBEJEVALSKl'S HOBSE.

these animals may be recognised. The stallion of the wild
horse never leads the herd, but is always behind, taking care
of the young, which he protects better than do the mares.
But however this may be, we were the first Europeans who, for
twenty days, made a study of these interesting animals, adding
the skins of three handsome stallions and one mare to our
collection — an acquisition we may well be proud of, though
made at the cost of many hardships and privations. Besides
Equus przewalskii, Dzungaria has the tiger, two antelopes
{A. saiga and A. gutttorosa), two wild asses (E. hemionus
and E, onager), and, among small animals, a hare and a few
rodents not yet determined."

They seem to throw no suspicion on Prejevalsky's horse
being a distinct species^ and do not even allude to the
possibility of its being a hybrid between the ass and the
horse. They obviously paid great attention to their
zoological collection^ having obtained a large number
of specimens, comprising twenty-nine large mammalia,
thirty-nine medium, and forty-two small, and they re-
garded the four specimens of Equus przewalskii as amongst
their most interesting acquisitions. Of these they secured
three skulls and one perfect skeleton. Sir W. Flower
tliinks that it is difficult to form a definite opinion as to the
validity of this species, or resist the suspicion that it may
be a mule. The latter supposition is unlikely, as, if it
were true, so many specimens could hardly have been
obtained ; moreover, hybrids between two species are
rarely produced except through the agency of man. The
capture of a female E. przewalskii in foal would settle this
disputed question, equine mules being invariably barren.

V5 <X.

S C5

CHAPTER III.

THE AFRICAN WILD ASS.
{Equus asinus. Idnn.)

The two species of the genus Equus, namely Equus
caballus and Equus przewalskii, are both regarded as horses,
being distinguished, amongst other characters, by the
presence of callosities, also known as ergots, chesnuts, or
castors, on both the hind and fore legs ; these are absent
from the hind legs of the other species, whilst some of
the hybrids (mules) have them, and others have not — by
their broad hoofs, and by the long hair not being confined
to the extremity of the tail.

The remaining equine animals may conveniently, though
not with any great accuracy, be divided into two groups,
those which are plainly coloured, the true asses, and those
which are striped, and are known popularly as zebras.

The distinction, though obvious to the eye, has no great
zoological value. Several of the varieties of the horse,
such as the pure bred Norwegian ponies, habitually have
the spinal and leg stripes, and numerous other breeds that
possess them are described by Darwin in his work on
"Variation,'^ and one African ass, that from Somaliland, is
characterised by its transverse leg stripes. The asses are,
however, characterised by their geographical distribution,
those from Africa being markedly distinct from the Asiatic
species.

12 THE AFRICAN WILD ASS.

The African wild ass is now regarded by all zoologists
as the origin of our domesticated animal. As this species
was originally termed Equus asinus by Linngeus, the name
should be retained in place of Equus toeniopus, which was
subsequently given it by Heuglin^ even although the latter
has been extensively used in scientific works. The appel-
lation toeniopus^ stripe footed, expresses the fact that many
of the species possess dark markings on the lower part of
the limbs.

The African ass is found wild in Abyssinia, ^Nubia, and
other parts of North-east Africa lying between the Nile
and the Red Sea. Its colour and markings approach
closely to those of the ordinary domestic ass ; it possesses a
distinct shoulder stripe running from the withers down to
the commencement of the fore leg, similar to that seen
almost invariably in the donkey. The ears of the African
are longer than those of the Asiatic asses. The activity
and speed of the animal must not be judged of by those of
the domesticated ass, which has suffered, in this country at
least, from continued neglect and scanty fare for centuries.
Sir Samuel Baker, speaking of the wild ass, says :

"Those who have seen donkeys only in their civilised state can
have no concei^tion of the beauty of the wild or original animal.
It is the perfection of activity and courage. It has a high bred
tone in its deportment, a high-actioned step when it trots freely
over the rocks and sand, with the speed of a horse when it
gallops over the boundless desert. The specimens now in the
Zoological Gardens will enable any one to perceive the character
of the animal as it was before being altered by generations of
captivity."

The bray of the African is identical with that of our
common ass, and Darwin, in his " Variation," notes the
marked aversion to walking across a brook, which charac-

THE AFRICAN WILD ASS. 13

terises our domestic donkey, as indicating its being derived
from a desert-haunting animal, as also, lie says, does its
pleasure in rolling in tlie dust.

Of the African wild ass there are now (1894) three
specimens in the Zoological Gardens. A female purchased
by the Society in 1881, has repeatedly bred, once with the
Asiatic ass {E. hemionus), and four times with a male of
her own species.

The male African ass now in the Regent^s Park is
stated to be not a native of Africa, but is said to have
come from the island of Diego Garcia, in the Indian
Ocean, where African asses were taken by sailing vessels,
and have become wild, retaining all their characteristics,
although somewhat reduced in size. In reference to this
statement. Admiral Kennedy, of H.M.S. ^^Boadicea,"
writing from Madagascar, June 25, 1893, informed me
that he had lately met with a gentleman who had lived
for eighteen years on the island of Diego Garcia, during
which time he had never met with a donkey (at least a
wild one), and he is certain that such an animal never
existed there.

As is the case with the horse, the ass has been so long a
period under domestication that great variations exist in
its size and general character. Some asses in India are
said to be not larger than Newfoundland dogs. In the
south of Europe they are reared with care and attain a
large size, and in Poitou a very large breed, of great
strength and stoutness of limb, is reared for the purpose
of breeding draught mules that rival our large draught
cart horses in size and strength.

The period of gestation in the ass is not, as generally
stated, even in scientific works such as Blanf ord^s '^ Fauna
of British India : Mammalia,^' identical with that of the

THE AFRICAN WILD ASS.

horse. Tlie stud book of Mr. C. L. Sutherland, who is so
greatly interested in ass and mule breeding, testifies to
the fact that it is a month longer, and in some instances
even more. Thus, a Spanish jenny that visited a Poitou
jack on July 7, 1876, foaled a jack on July 23, 1877.-^
Another distinction between the ass and the horse is that
twin births are not uncommon in the case of the former,
but are much rarer in the latter.

A singular variety of the African ass was foaled in
the Gardens of the Zoological Society in 1892. The
female parent was purchased by the society in 1881,
and produced her first foal in June, 1883 ; the other
parent being not an African, but the variety of the
Asiatic ass known as the Hemippe {E. hemionus). This
offspring was of a reddish colour, similar to that of the
male parent, the female being of the usual grey. This
half-bred was exhibited at the Agricultural Show at
Windsor, in 1889. It was a vicious, untamed animal, and
was sold to Mr. Guy, and is now in the Gardens of the
Zoological Society at Dublin. In the report of that Society

* As this difference in tlie gestation of the two species is _ so
generally ignored, I have tlionglit it desirable to adduce the following
definite instances of the period of gestation in the ass (the result in
six cases of a single service) from the stud book of Mr. Sutherland :

Dam.

Sire.

Date.

Foal Born.

Period of
Gestation.

Donna

Dolores

Addle

Donna

Donna II

Nellie

Dinah

Nellie

to Eanulfe

to Vitre

to Vitrd

to Vitre

to Don .Tuan..
to Cetywayo..
to Maita .Taclc

May 28, 1877

April 10 and 20, 1877

June 24, 1S79

June 2.;. 1870

Sept. 30 ct Oct. 27, 1879.,

June 12, 1878 (Jenny)
April 21, 1878 (Jack)
June 16, 1880 (Jack).,,
June 20, 1880 (Jenny)
Oct. 18, 1880 (Jenny)

April 27, 1885 May IC. ISSf; (Jack)

June 15. 1887 June 14. ISSS (Jack) ...

June IS, ISsr. July 3, 1887 (Jenny) ...

885 days
3t:G days
8.58 days
8(!0 days
.870 days (?)
885 days
8fi5 days
380 days

Tlie above were all large jennies of foreign breeds, such as the
Maltese, Spanish, Poitou, and their crosses, which belonged to Mr,
Sutherland. They were put to large foreign jacks with the above results.

THE AFRICAN WILD ASS. 15

for 1892 this lij^brid is described as a fine animal, which
resembles its male parent rather than the mother. Since
then the female African ass has produced other foals,
the male parent being in all cases an African of the
usual grey colour and dark shoulder stripe common to the
species. These foals were born respectively in 1889, 1891,
and the last on October 13th, 1892. The latter offers a
striking example of variation from the usual markings and
colour of the species to which it belongs. It is of a reddish
fawn colour, somewhat shaggy in coat, and is remarkably
distinguished by a large star on the forehead and a white
blaze down the face, such as is rarely, if ever, seen in any
species of ass, wild or domesticated. There is the slightest
possible indication of stripes on the legs and of the
shoulder stripe, and the ears are shorter than those of the
parents. It has passed into the possession of Mr. A. J.
S cott, of Rotherfield Park, Alton, Hants, and is remarkably
tame and sociable.

Now, the question that presents itself is whether this is
an accidental variation, such as occurs from time to time
in almost all animals, especially those in confinement or
domestication, or whether it is an instance of the influence
of a previous impregnation, and that the animal has
reverted to the characters of the Hemippe, which was the
parent of the first foal produced by the female.

The influence of the first sire on all subsequent offspring
is a subject of very considerable importance that has not
received the scientific investigation that it merits. It is
generally accepted by breeders of dogs, and in the case of
valuable animals the effect of a mesalliance is carefully
guarded against. It is one that is recognised by physio-
logists as affecting the human species, and the example
of the striped foals that were always bred by a mare

16 THE AFRICAN WILD ASS.

wliose first foal was a liybrid of zebra parentage is well
known.

Whether this young ass bred in the Gardens is merely
an accidental variation^ or whether it owes its peculiarities
to the influence of the Hemippe, is a point which I will not
endeavour to decide. The white blaze on the face is most
peculiar, and I am informed by Mr. C. L. Sutherland,
who is well known in connection with the breeding of
equine animals and their hybrids, that he has never seen
this blaze, so common on the horse, on any of the many
thousand asses that have come under his notice in Europe
and America. The facts of the case are, therefore, worth
putting on record.

Captain Hayes, in his recent work on " The Points of
the Horse,^^ says: —

"The ass hardly ever has any irregular markings on its
coat, such as a ' star,' ' blaze,' ' reach,' or ' stockings,' all of
which are very frequent amongst horses. A small star, on one
or two occasions, is the only mark of the kind I have ever seen
in the ass. At the same time, I must state that I have not had
much experience among these animals.

" I believe I am correct in saying that the colour of the ass
is never of a bright bay, chestnut, red or blue roan, or nutmeg
grey. I have seen mules of an iron-grey colour, but have
not observed it in the ass. This conservatism in colour and
freedom from irregular markings, shown by the ass, is very
remarkable, considering how greatly the coat of the horse
varies in this respect."

Captain Hayes also calls attention to the different extent
of the patches of thickened skin, which he terms the shell,
that cover the croup and the pelvis in the horse, whereas
in the ass it extends all over the ribs, which are con-
sequently not as sensitive to the effects of blows as are

THE AFRICAN WILD ASS. 17

tliose of the horse. This thickening is due to an extremely
dense layer of connective tissue, which is so close and hard
that when the skin has been tanned and dried it looks like
horn, and is utilised for the manufacture of the long boots
worn by foreign cavalry officers.

Mr. C. L. Sutherland furnishes me with the following
list of five cardinal points in which the ass differs from the
horse :

*' (1) In the period of gestation, which in the'' ass, as before
tated, is at least twelve months, whereas in the horse it is
eleven.

'* (2) The absence of chestnuts on the hind legs of the ass.

" (3) The number of loin vertebrae in the ass is five, in the
horse six. In the mule it is sometimes five and sometimes six.

" (4) The ass in comparison with the horse more frequently
produces twins ; in many cases, however, these are the result of
superfoetation, as is evidenced by the difference in size of the
produce. In my experience, writes Mr. Sutherland, an ass in
foal with twins always aborts.

" (5) The entire absence in the ass of the white stockings or
fetlocks so common in the horse, and also of the star or blaze
on the forehead. In these particulars the mule follows the
ass, which is very prepotent over the horse in those cases where
the ass is the male parent. The mule may be said to be three-
fourths of an ass rather than intermediate between its parents,
whereas the mute, which is also called a hinny or jennet (the
' bardot' of the French), in which the horse is the male parent,
favours the horse rather than the ass.

'' Piebald or skewbald asses, though sometimes occurring, are
not common, and can only be produced from parents of which
one at least is either piebald or skewbald. A white jack and
a brown jenay, or the converse, mil not produce broken coloured
offspring, unless this character has previously appeared in the
ancestors of one or other of the parents."

A further distinction between the two species e xists in

18 THE AFRICAN WILD ASS.

tlie striking difference in the longevity of tlie ass as com-
pared witli that of the horse ; the latter rarely attains the
age of twenty-five years, whilst asses of thirty years are
not infrequent, and instances of much greater longevity
are on record ; thus, in the Graphic of July 1, 1893, is
given a portrait of a donkey now living on which, it is
stated, the present Earl of Feversham used to ride fifty-
five years ago.

« rs

en o

1*3 <^

3 N

a: S

1-5 '^

CHAPTER IV.
THE WILD ASS OF SOMALILAND.

{Equus asinus somalicus, Sclater.)

This animal was brought under the notice of the Fellows
of the Zoological Society in November, 1884, when the
secretary, Mr. P. L. Sclater, described and exhibited a skin,
and called attention to a fine specimen then living in the
Gardens, having been deposited by Mr. Hagenbeck. Mr.
Sclater at the same time called attention to another
African wild ass (E. asinus), from the Nubian desert,
which was purchased in May, 1881, and compared the
two, demonstrating that they belonged to distinct species
or sub-species.

As will be seen by the engraving from Mr. Smit's
drawing, which appeared in the Proc. Zoolog. Soc, 1884,
the Somali ass differs from the ordinary African wild ass
in its more greyish colour, in the entire absence of the
cross-strip'3 over the shoulders, in the very slight indication
of the dorsal line, and more especially in the numerous
black markings on both front and hind legs. It has, like-
wise, smaller ears, and a longer mane.

These cannot be regarded as individual variation «,
for they were present in the skin from Somaliland,
which was exhibited at the same time by Mr. Sclater.
Moreover, Mr. E. Lort Phillips, who visited the Berberah
district in March, 1884, ascertained that the wild asses

c 2

20 THE WILD ASS OF SOMALILAND.

whicli lie there met witli were all precisely of tlie same
description.

Mr. Lort Phillips wrote as follows :

" On March 22, 1884, when about twenty miles to the west of
Berberah, we fell in with a small herd of wild asses. After a
long and tedious stalk I succeeded in bagghig one, which turned
out to be of quite a new species to me, having no mark whatever
on the body, which was of a beautiful French grey colour. On
its legs, however, it had black stripes rmming diagonally. I
have unfortunately lost the book in which I put its measure-
ments, but it was a superb creature, and stood quite 14 hands
at the shoulder ; our Berberah horses looked quite small in
comparison."

Whether this Somali ass should be regarded as a distinct
species from the ordinary African wild ass or merely a
local variation is uncertain^ and depends on the view taken
of specific distinctions by each individual. There appears
to me to be little doubt they would breed together and
produce fertile offspring. It is not without interest to
remark that as we go further south from Abyssinia towards
the Cape the asses approximate more closely to the striped
equines; the zebras and quaggas of South Africa.

OHAPTEE V.
THE ASIATIC WILD ASS.

{Equus he^nionus, Pallas).

At the present time naturalists incline to the opinion that
there is but one distinct species of Asiatic wild ass, to
which they assign the name of Equus hemionus, first
bestowed on it by Pallas. In the list of animals that have
been exhibited in the gardens of the Zoological Society,
three species of the Asiatic wild ass are enumerated,
named respectively — (1) the Asiatic wild ass {E. onager),
the ghor-khur of Western India and Baluchistan; (2) the
Hemippe (E. hemippus) from Persia and Syria; and (3)
the Kiang (E. hemiomis) from Tibet. The first two differ
but very little from one another, but the kiang or dzeg-
getai is stated by Mr. Blanford to be darker and redder
than the ghor-khur, and to have a narrower dorsal stripe,
although he agrees with Sykes, Blyth, and Flower in
regarding these three wild asses as constituting but varieties
of one species.

The Asiatic wild ass inhabits the vast open plains that
exist in various parts of Asia, from Syria through Persia,
Afghanistan, the Punjab, and Tibet, right away to the
frontiers of China. It is usually found in herds varying
in number from four or five to thirty or forty individuals.
In the spring months the mares and foals sometimes collect
in vast numbers, and Dr. Aitchison, in his report on the

22 THE ASIATIC WILD ASS.

Afghan frontier expedition of 1884^ stated tliat lie saw a
herd in north-western Afghanistan that he regarded as
consisting of some thousand animals.

In the description of this species by Blanford in his
^' Fauna of British India/^ we are informed that the ears
are large^ that the tail is covered with short hair near the
base, which grows gradually longer towards the end^ that
the mane is erect, and that there is a naked callosity on
the inside of each fore-arm, but none on the hind legs.
The general colour of the Asiatic wild ass is a sort of
rufous grey, which varies to fawn colour, or even pale
chestnut. The under parts of the body are white. A dark
brown stripe, which varies in breadth, sometimes being
margined with white, runs down from the nape to the tail,
and occasionally there is a dark cross stripe on the
shoulder, and faint rufous bars are said to occur at times
on the limbs. The end of the tail is blackish. In heio'ht
the Asiatic wild ass varies from 3ft. Sin. to 4ft. Its food
consists of various grasses and the herbage of other plants.
Its voice is described by Mr. Blanford as being a shrieking*
bray. These wild asses are remarkable for their speed and
endurance. Mr. Blanford informs us that in the country
west of the Indus, the mares are said to drop their foals
in June, July, and August; the period of gestation he
regards as eleven months, but it is more probably identical
with that of the African species, and exceeds twelve months.
Two local varieties of the Asiatic ass, the Onager and the
Kiang, though not regarded by zoologists as specifically
distinct, call for distinct notice.

THE ASIATIC WILD ASS. 23

THE ONAGER.

Ghor-khuRj Hindi; Ghoue or Kherdecht, Persian; Koulan,
Kirghiz ; Ghur, Ghuran, Balucli.

The geographical race or variety of the Asiatic ass
usually spoken of as the Onager is well illustrated in the
engraving from a specimen sent to the Zoological Gardens
in 1873 by Captain Henry Lowther Nutt^ who, writing
to the secretary of the Zoological Society, stated :

" I ran it down on the Emm of Kutch. I was riding hard
after it for three hours and five minutes, and the estimated
length of the chase was forty miles. I rode two horses, as I
discovered from the ' puggies,' or watchers near the Runn,
that, if the animals were disturbed from where they were, they
would probably make for another place some twelve or thh^teen
miles distant. I was, therefore, able to post a fresh party of
horsemen, and a fresh horse for myself, at the place further on ;
and true enough the herd did make for the spot indicated, so
that the running was taken up and continued with fresh horses,
and in this way the capture was effected, but even then not
until both my horses, which were in good order at the time,
had been ridden to a standstill. This will give you an idea of
the speed and endurance of these animals."

A full account of the exciting chase of this specimen was
published by Captain Nutt in the Oriental Sporting
Magazine, under the title of *^^ Donkey Hunting on the
Eunn of Kutch. ^^ The engraving of the animal with its
syce was copied from a photograph forwarded from India
by Mr. Eraser S. Hore, in whose possession the animal
remained some time previous to its embarkation. Mr.
Hore, in a letter to Mr. C. L. Sutherland, writes as
follows :

" I send you two photographs and an account of the animal in

24 THE ASIATIC WILD ASS.

its wild state. The specimen in question was ridden down on
the Eunn of Kutch in the month of March, 1873. She is the
only instance known (bar one, when the beast was on the point
of dropping a foal) of a wild ass having been run down before.
The party that captured her was headed by a friend of mine,
Capt. H. Lowther Nutt, Acting Second Political Assistant,
Kattyawar. The photographs I had taken myself, and the
donkey at present is in my possession, waiting to be conveyed to
the Zoological Society by the first Suez Canal steamer that
leaves Bombay, the society having provided the funds for its
passage home. Its age at present time (October, 1873) is
about one year ; its colour is a mixture of white and fawn ; the
under parts of the body, the neck and chest, nose and nasal
region, back part of face, rump, channel and inside of the legs
are white ; the mane is short, stumpy, and dark brown. A
dark dun streak of longish hair runs down the back, broadening
towards the rump, and continuing down the tail to the end.
The other parts of the body and head are of a fawn colour, the
entire coat being smooth and glossy ; the tail has a small tuft
of long dark-brown hair at the end. The legs are beautifully
clean and flat, the back sinews standing well out ; and there is
a black, shiny, horny ergot high up inside each fore leg ; the
feet are beautifully formed, hard, and very small ; pasterns very
long on fore legs, rather upright on hind legs. Viewed from
behind, her quarters and gaskins appear enormously large in
proportion to the size of the animal. She is a wonderful
jumper, and tried an eight-foot wall, but did not get over,
having a log of wood tied to one of her hind legs. The eyes are
large, quite black and very expressive. The muzzle is small
and black, the nostrils large and open. The ears are long,
outside light fawn colour, inside covered with long white hair.
Outside the knees and hocks there are faint traces of three
brown bars. The animal shows no indication of the cross, or
shoulder stripe, found in other donkeys. She is at present over
twelve hands high, but is not yet full grown.

" These animals have constantly been chivied on the Kunn of
Kutch for years past by parties of officers on horseback with

THE ASIATIC WILD ASS. 25

spears ; but, with the solitary exception which I have above
mentioned, when a man named Elliott speared a jenny on the
point of foaling, no wild donkey has ever been run down until
my friend Nutt got hold of this one.

" This donkey was exhibited at the horse show in Poona, and
was looked upon as the greatest curiosity and attraction there.
She bites and kicks at everyone that approaches her but her
own syce. It took a whole day to get her to stand steady, in
order to take the photographs I send you ; and at one time she
lashed out with her hind legs, and kicked the photographer and
his apparatus over. They say there is no possibility of ever
taming her. Eraser S. Hore.

" Bombay, October 27, 1874."

These accounts of the untameable nature of the Onager
and its extraordinary endurance appear to be based upon
somewhat imperfect information. After their recent re-
publication, I had the pleasure of receiving from Mr. J. L.
Harrington, 14th Bombay Infantry, Assistant Superin-
tendent of Police at Kathiawar, the following interesting
account of the capture of several Onagers, which disproves
the previously received information of their great speed,
extraordinary endurance and extreme wildness. The
statements made by Captain Nutt, in the Oriental Sporting
Magazine, and Mr. Blanford in his '' Fauna of British
India/' regarding the Onager, have unquestionably been
greatly modified by the statements of Mr. J. L. Harrington,
who writes as follows :

" Blanford, in his ' Fauna of British India,' states that there
is no instance on record of wild asses being run down by a
single horseman, and Mr. Tegetmeier also remarks that it is
doubtful whether any Onager has ever been ridden down,
except in cases of mares heavy in foal, and also states that
even the young have only been captured by employing relays of
horses.

26 THE ASIATIC WILD ASS,

" The above lias been conclusively disproved by H.H. the
Thakor of Morvi, whose State, which is in Kathiawar, is
situated close to the E,unn of Kutch, as the Onager has been
ridden down and secured on several occasions during a period
of three years, when riding them down was one of his highness's
favourite amusements, undertaken chiefly to disprove the
exaggerated opinion commonly held as regards their speed and
endui^ance.

" On one occasion a band of eight wild donkeys were ridden
down and secured on the east side of the Eunn by a party of
five riders, or, to be more exact, by a party of three, as the
riding was really done by H.H. the Thakor Sahib and two of
his riding boys. The riders averaged about 9 stone in weight,
rode the same horses from start to finish, and kept together
throughout the whole of the chase.

" As the above may not be considered a case of running them
down by a single horseman, perhaps the following instance
may suffice, viz., that on another occasion the Thakor Sahib and
his two riding boys separated ; the former succeeded in riding
one down single-handed, and without change of mount, while
the two boys secured another.

" The horses used in these rides were Walers, Arabs, and
country breds, and in one ride where a wild donkey was secured,
a 13*3 Arab pony was used. The fact may perhaps interest
people that the country breds used were ordinary Kathiawar
cobs about 14*1, and in the case of the Walers and Arabs used,
no special selection was made of mounts, neither were the
animals in special condition for the rides. The following facts
will somewhat tend to discount the somewhat exaggerated ideas
held concerning the speed and endurance of the Onager.

" The rides which ended in captures usually lasted about three
hours ; speed varied from a walk to a spurting gallop ; the
going was execrably bad, being chiefly ground covered at high
tide by the sea, and consisted for the most part of mud, in
which the horses sank fetlock deep, necessitating the greater
portion of the chase being done at a walk. The distances
covered in the dift'erent runs varied from twenty to twenty-five

•< es

« 2

W o

< ^

^ s

ft 2
o

THE ASIATIC WILD ASS. 27

miles ; no horse ever died during a chase or from the after
effects.

" Although the Onager's speed is greater than that of a tame
donkey, an ordinary 14.2 Arab can gallop them to a standstill,
and the fact of the runs being so long was due more to the
going than to any special endurance on the part of the wild
asses. Pra<-tically, as regards endurance, they are as enduring
as a horse in non-galloping condition, though the asses when
caught, could hardly be called in galloping condition either.

"One of the most striking points in connection with these
rides is the endurance shown by the horses used in caj)turing
the wild asses ; in fact, more wonderful than the endurance of
the asses, who were on the ground they live on, whereas neither
food nor water could be obtained for the horses, riders even
having to carry their own drinking water. On one occasion
horses were out without food or water from 7 a.m. one morning
to 4 a.m. the next.

" Some twenty wild asses, big and small, were captured in
these rides. When captured the wild asses were extremely
vicious, bit and kicked, and it was found necessary to rope
them before they could be led away. The statement that no
varieties of the Asiatic wild ass have ever been domesticated
would be deprived of some of its effect could your readers see
the wild asses in the paddocks at Morvi.

'• Though some of the captures remained excessively vicious,
others became quite tame, and were ridden and driven just
like tame donkeys. The young ones are as tame as dogs, and
extremely fond of being fondled and played with.

" Those in the paddock at Morvi were exceedingly inquisitive,
and had to be kept back while a photograph was taken, as
nothing would satisfy them until they could sniff round the
camera and see what the seemingly diabolical instrument was.

" A photograph, the only one of a batch of four taken which
turned out passably (though the gentleman in the solah tope
is meant to be a European), is herewith sent in proof of what
may be done with them, and in it may be observed the in-
quisitiveness of the animals, a youngster, in his eagerness to

28 THE ASIATIC WILD ASS.

find out what was going on, liaving come np behind and caused
the syce on the right to move his hand. The treatment under-
gone by the donkey, on whose back a syce is seated, ought to
be proof enough of her tameness, as her tail was held, not to
keep her quiet, but to show what could be done to her. This
particular donkey was ten months old when caught and fright-
fully wild ; she is now about two and a half years old.*

" The engraving of the young Onager from the photograph
forwarded by Mr. Fraser S. Hore is good with the exception
of the legs and feet, which are made to look too coarse, the legs
and feet of the wild ass being particularly clean, neat, and well
formed.

"The same horses which were used to ride down the wild asses
in the Runn have been used to ride down wolves and black
buck (A^itelope hezoartica) .

" The information regarding the riding down of the wild asses
on the Runn of Kutch was given to me by a well-known
Kathiawar sportsman, the traffic manager of H.H. the Thakor
Sahib of Morvi's State Railway, who was out with the Thakor
Sahib on several occasions when they went after the Runn
donkeys, whose riding weight, however, prevented him from
being with the leaders in the runs when the Onagers were
captured."

The supposed irreclaimable nature of the Onager is one
of those fables that too often pass current in zoology.
They descend from writer to writer, and are transmitted
from one volume into others. Even in as recent a volume
as "The Horse/^ by Sir W. H. Flower, we are told that
the Asiatic wild asses outstrip the fleetest horse in speed
and that none of them have ever been domesticated.
Scores of Indian officers must have known that the Onager

* This photograpli showing the docility of these auimals is so
conclusive in its evidence, that I have had it accurately reproduced,
and have to express my deep obligation to Mr. J. L. Harrington for
the kindness he lias shown in forwarding it.

THE ASIATIC WILD ASS. 29

is readily domesticated^ and that they occasionally become
so tame as to be troublesome. Nevertheless, they are
usually described as exceedingly vicious, although they
are readily tamed, as stated by Mr. Harrington, and
demonstrated by his photograph, and General Sir Samuel
Browne informs me that these animals are generally to
be seen at every station of the Punjab frontier force,
from Kohat down to Eajanpore. He says that they
are perfectly domesticated, and so tame that they find
their way into the officers^ houses and into the men^s
lines, and even come into the mess rooms and force their
heads between the chairs to get bread from the table, and
he instances one which was so civilised that it did not
object to a little sip of pale ale. At various times General
Sir Samuel Browne had no less than three with his
regiment, and during the Mutiny one marched with the men
from Peshawur as far as Lahore. She used to be amongst
the officers' tents, roaming about the camp during the day,
invariably moving on to the next encampment with the
regiment. Another that was an equal favourite died from
burns consequent on her tumbling into a smouldering heap.
These animals, however, strenuously resisted being saddled,
possibly from not having been broken-in when young ; but
one was known to Sir Samuel Browne as having been
perfectly broken, and as being habitually ridden by a
Belooch chief named Beeja Kham.

The Syrian variety of Asiatic wild ass, the Hemippe, is
so closely allied to the Indian form as not to demand a
distinct description.

30 THE ASIATIC WILD ASS.

THE KIANG.

{Equus hemionus, var. Kiang.)

Although regarded by the majority of naturalists as a
local variety of tlie Asiatic wild ass [E. hemionus), the
kiang^ or dzeggetai, of Tibet differs so much from the
better-known Indian wild ass as to render a detailed notice
of it desirable. As will be seen by the engraving — which
has been most accurately reproduced from a photograph
of a kiang formerly existing in the Zoological G-ardens —
this animal differs from the onager, being larger and more
powerful in the hindquarters, which appear abnormally
developed in length and strength. It is also larger in
size, reaching to 14 hands, and its colour is a rufous-bay,
with a much narrower dorsal stripe than is found in the
onager. Its voice is described as a neigh, and not like
that of the onager — a shrieking bray.

The habits of the kiang are not as familiar to us as
those of the wild asses of India, but they have been
admirably described by more than one traveller who has
visited the country. A very vivid sketch of the animal,
from a sportsman^s point of view, is to be found in Colonel
Kinloch's " Large Grame Shooting of Thibet and India,^^
although the author^s statements that there is a doubt as
to whether it is a horse or an ass, and that it is more
closely allied to the zebra, or quagga, than to the ass, will
not be accepted by naturalists.

" The kyang (says Colonel Kinloch) prefers the most desolate
places in the vicinity of lakes and large rivers. It delights in
the coarse and wiry pasturage, its favourite food being a rough,
yellow grass, as hard and sharp as a penknife.

"No animal is a greater nuisance to the sportsman. Very
inquisitive by nature, as soon as kyang observe a strange

E*^

■-^ — '

o
^

-t1

►— *

THE ASIATIC WILD ASS. 31

object, they seem anxious to find out all about it ; and often,
when stalking, one is annoyed by a brute who snorts, cocks his
ears, and then trots up to have a look at one. Any of his
friends who may be near at once follow his example, more
distant ones are attracted, and in a few minutes a herd of
fifty or sixty may be galloping in circles, effectually alarming
all the game in the country.

" They will also sometimes sjDoil sport by actually chasing and
driving away other game from their pastures. I witnessed a
case of this in the Indus valley in 1866, when some goa which
I was stalking were hunted right away by some kyang. A
friend of mine had his stalk at some antelope spoiled in a
similar manner.

" In places where they have not been disturbed, kyang will
frequently gaze at the sportsman within fifty yards without
betraying any fear, but merely curiosity. On the more fre-
quented routes which are annually traversed by tourists the
kyang are much more shy, and seem to know the range of a
rifle well. Of course, there is no sport in shooting such an
animal ; but the skin of one is occasionally useful to mend
one's shoes with, and in some parts, as Ladak, the Tartars eat
the flesh with avidity. I have tried it, and found it tough and
coarse."

Colonel Kinloch adds that he saw it stated some
years ago that a cross had been obtained between the
kiang and the ass at the Jardin des Plantes^ and that he
should imagine that the cross between the kiang and the
horse would be a most valuable animal^ possessing all the
good qualities of the ordinary mule, with greater size and
strength, and better shape. I may state that in the
opinion of experienced mule breeders, the points of the
kiang are not such as would render its hybrid offspring as
valuable as the ordinary mule.

I am not aware that the Tartars have ever utilised the
kiang as a domesticated animal, and for any detailed

32 THE ASIATIC WILD ASS.

description of its habits wlien in subjection to man we
must turn to tbe very graphic account of the example
formerly living in the Zoological Glardens, Regent^s
Park, which was written by Major W. E. Hay, who
received it as a present from the Chinese Governor of
Rudok, a hill fort situated beyond the Pang Kong in Little
Tibet.

Major Hay had endeavoured to procure two Tibetan
dogs of enormous size, of the same breed that was
described by Marco Polo as being of the size of donkeys.
One of these, however, had died, and the person deputed,
thinking Major Hay would prefer a kiang to a dog, secured
the former. At that time it had never been haltered or
handled. It was said to have been caught in a pit, and
was much attached to a white Chumurti ghoont, which it
would follow ; but this animal being claimed by a Tibetan
lama, Major Hay purchased a Tibetan mule to keep the
kiang company. With this it did not agree, and the mule
led anything but a happy life. The kiang would, however,
follow it, and was always restless unless it had some equine
animal in company.

It always showed the greatest aversion to pass over any
insecure wooden bridges, and, when its companion had
passed over a bridge, would wait until it saw that it had
gained the opposite bank, and then would fearlessly plunge
into the most rapid stream, and usually make a nearly
straight course across. In leaving Kullu for Simla it had
to cross the River Biass, which was then a foaming torrent.
It plunged in, but was carried down the stream several
hundred yards, and landed upon an island, where it re-
mained quietly until the following morning, when the mule
was sent across to tempt it to follow to the shore, which it
did. The Sutlej was at this season so full, and running at

THE ASIATIC WILD ASS. 33

sucli a frightful pace, that Major Hay deemed it adv^isable
to throw the animal and secure it upon a raft, which was
with great difficulty got across. It was at Simla during
the whole of one rainy season, and did well, although
Adolj^h Schlagintweit had given it as his opinion that the
animal could not live under an elevation of 1 0,000ft. above
the level of the sea. It was then marched to Ferozepore.
On reaching the plains it seemed rather inclined to enjoy
freedom, and occasionally required four men to hold and
lead itj and even then on several occasions it got away, but
was not very difficult to secure again.

At Ferozepore the mule which had accompanied it was
dismissed, and the kiang taken to Kurrachi by water, in a
boat purposely fitted up. There was much difficulty in
getting it on board. It was disembarked at Kothree, and
marched across the country to Kurrachi.

After keeping it a month at Kurrachi, it was shipped
in the barque Sumner, a large quantity of hay, kirbee,
dried lucerne, and grain, being provided for it. The
latter was worm-eaten, and it was long before the animal
could be induced to touch it. The passag*e was very long,
and, provisions running short, the kiang was twice reduced
to eat the straw with which the sailors' beddings had been
stuffed.

At first it refused to drink any tainted water, but^
before reaching St. Helena, where fresh supplies were
obtained, it would eat or drink almost anything. On
board ship it became exceedingly knowing, and balanced
itself so beautifully that it was not slung', unless the
weather was very rough. In an actual gale the poor
creature laboured dreadfully^ and seemed grateful for atten-
tion. It became latterly extremely docile, and always knew
ts owner by his voice. In crossing the line the weather

34 THE ASIATIC WILD ASS.

was very trying, and tlie kiang suffered greatly from the
extreme heat. With the exception of about three days, it
always had a voracious appetite, and consumed in four as
much food as had been laid in for six months.

Major Hay states that in Tibet the kiang breeds with
the horse, and that their produce is highly valued ; and he
adds, although not on his own knowledge, that the hybrids
are regarded as fertile, which is in the highest degree
improbable. Of its voice Major Hay says :

" I have often heard this one attempt a neigh, but it is a sad
failure ; at the same time it as little resembles the bray of an
ass ; indeed, its mode of calling to its companion is, hke itself,
quite unique. I feel quite confident that this female kiang may
be got to breed with a horse. I always found the kiang
very susceptible of kindness, its satisfaction being usually
expressed l:>y throwing its ears forward ; it generally shows a
sort of pettish displeasure when anyone is leaving it after giving
it bread, &.c. I twice placed a native of India on its back, but
this was after it had gone a march, when it was slightly dis-
tressed by the heat of the weather ; it took no notice whatever
of its rider. I was convinced of the kiang's specific difference
from the wild ass of Scinde when I saw one of the latter at
Delhi, intended for conveyance to England, and this made me
persevere the more to get it home. I have often watched the
herds of this animal on the plains or slopes of hills in Tibet ;
one invariably stands sentry at from 100 to 200 yards from the
flock, and when danger is at hand he commences walking
leisurely towards his companions. They take the alarm, and,
as soon as he comes up, off all go together in a trot or canter, as
the case may require. I don't know to what space to limit the
range of the kiang. Marco Polo speaks of asses, but evidently
alludes to those of Persia. Hue and Gabet evidently saw them
towards Lassa ; and I have been told that they are to be met
with on all the level country between Ladak and Lassa, or in the
valleys between the various ranges. I have seen them only

THE ASIATIC WILD ASS. ;i5

north of the great Himalayan ranges ; first upon the E,upfcher
plains and in the neighbourhood of the Salt Lakes, often in
company with the Ovis ammon or ' nyan.' I have also seen
them north of the Pang-Kong lake. The passes from Hindustan
into Tibet are never open before June, when I have seen flocks
of the kiang feeding almost entirely on the roots of a species of
artemisia, or wormwood. Their natural enemies besides man
seemed to be a panther, which lurks amongst the rocks, and a
large species of wolf. I have found their skeletons on the melt-
ing of the snow. Beyond the Pang-Kong lake I was informed
that in winter many of them were to be seen in the Shap-Yok
valley, in company with wild yaks or dong, also the ' nyan '
{Ovis ammon) and the ' sus,' or Tibetan antelope {Paiithalops
hodgsoni). A few tamarisk bushes seem then to support them,
and at the end of winter all these animals are spoken of as being-
like walking skeletons. I have sometimes approached flocks of
kiang quite close, at other times could not get within a mile of
them. On one occasion two kiangs followed a pony on which I
had a servant mounted ; in fact, kept so close that my servant
feared they were going to attack him. I never could ascertain
satisfactorily when the kiang breeds ; but I think it must bring-
forth in winter, for I have seen a mare shot with a young one in
the womb, nearly mature, in August ; and in the many flocks 1
have met with running wild I never perceived a foal that I
should have taken to be of less than six months old. When very
young the hair of the foal has the appearance of wool. The
winter coat of the adult is also very thick and curly, and is of
darker colour than its summer coat. It appears to shed its
winter coat in May. The kiang may be said to inhabit plains
and undulating hills, at from 15,000ft. to 16,500ft. above the
sea ; if found in the steeper hills they have been driven there.
It is most wonderful to see the rapidity with which they can
ascend mountains, and although they descend quickly I never
saw one lose its footing. After they have been pursued for
some time on the hills and driven on to the plains, they will
frequently make a charge past you at about 100 yards distance
in preference to ascending the steep parts again, thus showing

D 2

36 THE ASIATIC WILD ASS.

their preference for level ground. They are almost always seen
in the neighbourhood of lakes or ponds in the unfrequented
spots which are usually beyond the sportsman's beat."

I have drawn largely on this exceedingly interesting'
account of the habits of the kiang, as I am not aware that
it has been republished since its appearance in the ^^ Pro-
ceedings of the Zoological Society'^ more than thirty years
since, and is not likely to have come under the notice of
the general reader.

P
o

CHAPTEE VI.
THE MOUNTAIN ZEBRA.

{Equus zehra. LinncBus.)

The species of the Equid^e distinguislied by their bodies
being marked by stripes are restricted in their geographical
range to the African Continent. They were formerly, by
some naturalists, regarded as constituting a distinct genus
[Silipotigris) , differentiated from the other asses by their
stripes; bat, as is generally recognised, mere variations in
colour and markings do not constitute good generic
differences, and the zebras are now regarded as con-
stituting one genus (Equus) with the horses and asses.
The fact that all species of this group are occasionally
more or less marked with stripes is in itself a fact opposed
to their presence being regarded as a good generic
distinction.

The mountain zebra — the Wilde Paard, or wild horse
of the old Dutch African colonists — was the one which
was first made known to Europeans, and, being formerly
abundant in the mountainous parts of the Cape Colony,
was called the common zebra ; but now, owing to the
advance of the colonists, it has become rare, and during
the whole time that the Zoological Society has been in
existence it has received but three specimens, one of
which was acquired in 1864, being presented by Sir P.
Woodhouse, the Governor of the Colony, the second

38 THE MOUNTAIN ZEBRA.

purchased a few j^ears later, and in 1887 a young male
was obtained, whose portrait, taken at the time, is given in
the plate.

The mountain zebra in form more nearly resembles the
ass than the one now better known as Burchell's zebra. It
is also the smaller of the two, being about 4ft. across the
withers. It has longer ears than the Burchell's zebra, and
a considerably shorter mane. The general ground colour
is white, but the stripes are black, and broader than the
intervals that separate them. The stripes on the body
are all nearly perpendicular. The muzzle is a bright
brown. If we except the abdomen, which has a longitu-
dinal stripe along it, and the inside of the thighs, the whole
of the body is striped, the legs being covered with trans-
verse hands reaching down to the hoofs, and the base of the
tail itself is transversely marked. It is remarkably distin-
guished from the other striped equine animals by what has
been termed by some travellers the ^^ gridiron '^ marking
above the tail, formed by a series of short transverse bands
passing' from the middle dorsal stripe outwards, and
generally joining the uppermost of the broad stripes on
the haunch. This is always present, and serves to distin-
guish at once the mountain zebra, from the other striped
members of the group. It is also characterised by the
presence of a distinct, though small, dewlap, which is well
shown in the vignette at the end of this chapter.

It is interesting to note that the gestation of the zebra
approaches to that of the ass rather than that of the horse.
The Earl of Derby, writing of one in the " Knowsley
Menagerie,^' said, " Mine has gone more than a week over
twelve months.''

The employment of arms of precision has already
effected a great change in the fauna of South Africa, and

THE MOUNTAIN ZEBBA. 39

tu learn the habits of the mountain zebra it is necessary to
turn to older writers^ for it is now so scarce that it has
even been supposed to be extinct in the district. For-
tunately we have very satisfactory accounts of it in
comparatively recent writers. In the magnificent folio on
the game and wild animals of Southern Africa, published
by Capt. W. Cornwallis Harris in 1840, a very full descrip-
tion of this animal is given. Of its habits Capt. Harris
Avrites as follow^s :

" Resti'icted to the mountainous districts of Africa, from
Abyssinia to the southernmost portions of the Cape of Good
Hope, this beautiful and wary animal never of its own free
will descends into the plains, as erroneously asserted by
naturalists, and it therefore never herds with either of its
congeners, the quagga and Burchell's zebra, whose habitat is
equally limited to the open and level lowland. Seeking the
wildest and most sequestered spots, the haughty troops are
exceedmgly difficult to approach, as well on account of their
watchful habits and extreme agility and fleetness of foot as
from the abrupt and inaccessible nature of their highland
abode. Under the special charge of a sentinel, so posted on
some adjacent crag as to command a view of every avenue of
approach, the chequered herd whom 'painted skins adorn,'
is to be viewed perambulating some rocky ledge, on which the
rifle ball alone can reach them. No sooner has the note of
alarm been sounded by the vidette, than, pricking their long
ears, the whole flock hurrv forward to ascertain the nature of
the approaching danger, and, having gazed a moment at the
advancuig hunter, whisking their brindled tails aloft, helter
skelter away they thunder, down craggy precipices and over
yawning ravines, where no less agile foot could dare to follow
them."

Burchell, who was well acquainted with both this and
the other species which was named after him, calls
attention to the constricted character of its hoofs, which

40 THE MOUNTAIN ZEBBA.

are adapted to rocky mountainous regions^ those of the
E. burchellii being fitted for the plains.

Although the true zebra is much more beautiful in its
markings than the allied species known as BurchelPs
zebra^ there can be no doubt that it is the more asinine
in its formation of the two, not only in the form of the
head and tail, but most markedly in the length of the
ears ; nevertheless, the animal is full of grace and beauty.
It is true its shoulder is straighter than would be approved
in a horse, that the quarters are shorter, the neck thicker,
and the cannon bones longer, but no one can look at the
animal without being struck with its extreme beauty.

From its smaller size, straighter shoulders, and more
asinine form, the mountain zebra is less adapted for the
service of man as a domestic beast of burden or draught
than the BurchelFs zebra ; nevertheless, it can be tamed
and ridden, and Captain Hayes has most obligingly allowed
me to use a photograph, from which the accompanying-
illustration was taken, showing Mrs. Hayes riding one of
these animals that had been some time in captivity in a
travelling menagerie in India. He informs me, however,
that it is a much more difficult animal to handle and break
in than the comparatively stronger and larger BurchelPs
zebra.

In his recent work on the "Points of the Horse,''
Captain Hayes, speaking of this zebra says, it has a thicker
neck, and its legs, especially as regards the back tendons
and suspensory ligaments, are not so well suited to civilized
requirements as those of Burchell's zebra. At present
it is met with in a wild state only on a few mountain
ranges of the southern part of Cape Colony, where it is
preserved. There is a herd on a farm near Craddock, a
small town in the eastern province ; it is much wilder and

THE MOUNTAIN ZEBRA.

more intractable to liandle than the Burchell zebra. The
height of the mountain zebra he gives when fully grown
as twelve hands. With regard to its utilization as a
domestic animal^ Capt. Hayes says that he has been
informed that it has been successfully ^' inspanned^^ in
South Africa, but that he has never heard of its being put
into draught between the shafts, and he points out that

EQTJUS ZEBRA BROKEN TO SADDLE.
(From a photograph by Capt. M. H. Hayes.)

the steadiness of an animal is much more accurately tested
by having to bear a weight upon its back than by merely
pulling against a collar when in a ^' span/^ and still more
so by carrying a rider than when in any kind of harness.
After making every inquiry in the colony he was unable
to obtain a single authenticated instance of any person

42 THE MOUNTAIN ZEBRA.

ever having ridden a mountain zebra, and lie is justifiably
proud of the fact that in two days he broke in the old
stallion, shown in the engraving, to be sufficiently quiet to
permit Mrs. Hayes to ride, and to be photographed whilst
on his back.

CTi

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•"

CHAPTEE VII.
GEEVY'S ZEBRA.

(Equus grevyi.)

Our first knowledge of this animal dates from 1882. On
December 19tli in tliat year Mr. P, L. Sclater exhibited, at
the meeting of the Zoological Society_, photographs of a
zebra, recently living in the Jardin des Plaates, Paris,
which he had received from M. A. Milne-Edwards, and he
pointed out the differences that he considered separated
this animal from the common or mountain zebra. At that
time a single specimen of the species had been sent alive
by King Menelek of Shoa to the President of the French

'- Republic, but it unfortunately died after a short residence

I in the Zoological Grardens at Paris.

I This animal is doubtless identical with that common

-" in Somali-land, described by Dr. Emin Bey as existing*
in large numbers in Lattako. This naturalist, however,
identified it with the ordinary Equus zebra.

Eight years afterwards, that is in 1890, Mr. Sclater
exhibited, at the Zoological Society, a skin of this zebra,
which was received from northern Somali-land, and
said :

" I have recently again examined the typical example of this
species, now mounted in the new gallery of the Jardin des
Plantes, and am still more confident of its distinctness, as shown
by the narrowness of the black strij^es, the difference of the

GREVY'S ZEBRA.

niarldiigs, and the white spaces on the forehead and on each
side of the dorsal stripe in the northern species.

" Being anxious to know whether the Berg-zebra of Somali-
land, spoken of by Herr Menges (' Zool. Garten,' 1887, p. 263)
as found in the mountains of that country as far north as
8° North Latitude, belongs to the E. grevyi, I requested Mr.
Hagenbeck to endeavour to obtain for me a skin of this animal.
This he has most kindly done through the intervention of Herr
Menges."

SKIN OF EQUUS GREVYI FROM SOMALI-LAND.

That there is considerable variation in the markings of
the species is evident from a comparison of the engraving
of this skin with that of the animal received from Shoa.
The croup of the latter^ which Jived for a short time in the
Jardin des Plantes^ as shown by the engraving, is white,
whereas in the Somali skin it is covered closely with small
stripes, which bear a distinct relation to those which con-
stitute the ^' gridiron '^ markings in the true Equus
zebra.

GEEVTS ZEBRA. 45

Sir William Flower, writing of this species in ^' The
Horse,^^ says :

*' Being obviously different from any that had hitherto been
seen in Europe, it was named by M. Milne-Edwards Equus
grevyi, in compliment to his political chief. On a white ground
colour it is very finely marked all over with numerous delicate,
intensely black stripes, arranged in a pattern quite different
from those of the other species. In view of the great variability
of the markings of these animals, as long as but one individual
of this form was known, some doubts were expressed as tO'
whether it might not be an exceptionally-coloured mdividual of
one of the other species ; but, subsequently, other specimens^
presenting almost exactly the same characters, have been
received from Somali-land, and it seems probable that all the
zebras which we know to exist in the northern districts of East
Africa belong to this species."

And writing in ^' Mammals Living and Extinct/' the same-
author states that *' In many of its characters it resembles
E. zebra, but the stripes are much finer and more numerous
than in the typical examples of that species, and it has a
strong black and isolated dorsal stripe/^

The publication of the account of Grevy's zebra in the
Field elicited the following letter, containing interesting
particulars respecting the distribution and habits of the
animal, from Capt. H. G. C. Swayne, which was dated
Aden, July 20th, 1893 :

" While returning from an expedition in Northern Somali-land^
I received the interesting notes on ' Wild Horses, Asses, and
Zebras,' in which remarks were made concerning the new zebra,
Equus grevyi. Most of the skins which have hitherto reached
the Somali coast have been brought down by natives, and as I
believe these zebras have been shot now for almost the first time
by Europeans, a note on their habits may be of interest.

46 GBEVY'S ZEBRA.

" I found tliey did not range further north on mv route than
about 7" 50' of latitude, and thence to the Webbe Shabeli river
at Ime, on the Galla border, they were common. The zebras, of
which I saw several herds at different times, were always found
on low plateaux covered with scattered or thick thorn bush and
tall, feathery 'durr' grass, with red gravelly soil and rocks
cropping up now and then. I saw none of their tracks in the
wide open grass plains, though this was not, I believe, the
experience of another sportsman whose route lay about 100 miles
to the eastward of, and parallel to, mine. The zebras, when I
saw them, were in herds of under a dozen, and they were so
tame that it was only because I had a large following to feed
that I was induced to shoot them. I have several skins, and
the stripes of adult ones only apj^roach ' intense black ' over
the withers ; elsewhere they are of a very deep chocolate colour,
changing to light tan on the forehead and muzzle.

" In the skin of a quite young zebra which some natives
brought me, the stripes were light brown, except on the withers.
I notice that skins brought down by natives and sold in Aden
seem to fade, and appear nearly dull black. The stripes on all
the skins of some 200 zebras which I saw alive, at one time
and another, were of the same narrow type on the flanks, show-
ing no variation in pattern so far as I could see."

At a later date Captain Swayne, in his valuable field
notes on the Game Animals of Somali-lnnd, published in
the ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society'' for 1894, writes
of this animal as follows :

'* G-revy's Zebra (the Somali name of which is fer'o) was, I
think, first shot in Somali-land by Colonel Paget and myself on
our simultaneous expeditions last spring.

" I found them first at Durhi, in Central Ogadeu, between thi'
Tug Faf an and the Webbe, about 300 miles inland from Berbera.
I shot seven specimens, all of which were eaten by myself and
my thirty followers ; in fact, for many days we had no other
food ; and this was no hardship whatever, as the meat is better

GBEVY'8 ZEBRA. 47

than that of many of the antelopes. The flesh is highly prized
bv the Rer Amaden and Malinmir tribes.

" The zebra was very common in the territory of these two
tribes. The country there is covered with scattered bush over
its entire surface, and is strong and much broken up by ravines ;
the general elevation is about 2500ft. above sea-level.

" The zebras, of which I saw ^^robably not more than 200 in
all, were met with in small droves of about half a dozen on
low plateaux covered with scattered thorn bush and glades of
* durr ' grass, the soil being powdery and red in colour with an
occasional outcrop of rocks. In this sort of country they are
very easy to stalk, and I should never have fired at them for
sj^ort alone. I saw none in the open flats of the Webbe valley,
and they never come near so far north as the open grass plains
of the Hand ; Durhi, south of the Fafan, being their northern
limit.

" The young zebras have longer hair, and the strij^es are
rather light brown, turning to a deep chocolate, which is nearlv
black in adult animals.

" After firing at one of a drove of zebras, I was sorrv to find
on going up to it that it was a female, and that its foal was
standing by the body, refusing to run away, though the rest
had all gone. We crept up to within ten yards of it, and made
an unsuccessful attempt to noose it with a rope weighted bv
bullets, but it made off after the first try. We must have been
quite five minutes standing within ten yards in the thick bush
while we were preparing the noose.

" Zebras are very inquisitive ; when I was encamped for some
days at Eil-Fud, in the Eer Amaden country, the zebras used to
come at night and bray and stamp round our camp, and were
answered by my Abyssinian mule. The sounds of the two
animals are very similar."

The late Mr. J. T. Tristram-Valentine wrote :

" I have read Mr. Tegetmeier's remarks on Equus grevyi, which
appeared in the Field, with great interest, and I should like to say
a few words on the subject of the Somali-land zebra. Some

48 GREVY'S ZEBRA.

time since I exhibited, at a meeting of the Liniiean Society, a
flat skin of this zebra, which I had received from Captain H. T>.
Merewether, then Assistant Political Resident at Berltera, and
pointed out that it differed from the type specimen of Equus
grevyi in that the stripes were brown (red-brown) upon a pale
sandy or rufescent ground, instead of black on a white ground ;
and I suggested that this might be the desert form, the type
specimen representing the mountain form. I have since seen
several skins of this zebra, and they all of them agree in coloura-
tion with my own, as, indeed, does the one in the British
Museum, which was exhibited by Dr. Sclater at a meeting of
the Zoological Society, and figured in the Proceedings. And I
am told by Captain Merewether that, though he had seen
dozens of them at Berbera, brought by caravans from the
Dolbahanta country, he has never seen one with black strij^es.
I may add that there is every reason to believe that the skin
obtained by Dr. Sclater, though said to have been received
from ' northern Somali-land,' was brought to Berbera by one of
the Dolbahanta caravans. I may further add that the descrip-
tion of the ground on which Colonel Paget is said to have found
these animals — flat ground, in open scrub, about 150ft. above
the level of the river — exactly agrees with the description given
me, which, in conjunction with the coloration of the animal,
caused me to suggest that this w^as a desert form. In conclu-
sion, I would observe that the country from which the Somali-
land zebras have been procured is some hundreds of miles
distant from the mountainous territory of Shoa, from which the
type specimen of Equus grevyi was obtained."

The most recent information v^e have regarding this
animal is in a letter from Mr. A. H. Neumann^ Laiju^
East Central Africa, April 16, 1894, who writes :

"As we emerged from the bush we saw zebra ahead of us.

I soon saw that they were not the common Burchell's

by their great wide ears and different markings. ... I

gave one a shot, and following, found him lying down as if

alive, but really dead.

GBEVY'S ZEBRA. 49

" A beautiful creature he was — a fine young stallion, larger
and far handsomer than Burchell's zebra, the stripes much
narrower, except one very broad dark one down the back, with
wide light ground on either side. The cry of this zebra is quite
different from the bark of the commoner kind, being a very
hoarse kind of grunt, varied by something approaching a whistle.
The Mackenzie river seems to be about their limit here, as on this
(west) side of its most easterly branch I saw only Burchell's."

The old doctrine of the immutability of species and their
separate and distinct creation is one that is not now held
by the majority of modern naturalists. Disputing, there-
fore, as to whether two closely allied animals are speci-
fically or sub-specifically distinct is almost a waste of
words. We know that a species spread over a wide area
will change according to the conditions of life, until at last
the two extremes are so diverse as to be regarded as distinct
species, but no one can say where one species ends and the
other begins, for they merge gradually into each other.

If I might be bold enough to express an opinion, I
would say that Equus grevyi and Equus zebra are the
same animal modified slightly by a long residence, possibly
for many thousands of years, in different localities. The
skin which Mr. Sclater reproduces as evidence of their
distinction, appears to me the most convincing proof
of their identity. There are to be seen in both animals
the same transverse bands on the legs, the same general
disposition of the stripes on the body, and on the
neck. There are even in the E. grevyi the rudiments of
the gridiron marks on the hind quarters of the E. zebra,
and almost the only difference is the larger number and
smaller width of the stripes in E. grevyi. The "strong
black and isolated dorsal stripe '' in the type specimen at
Paris, on which Sir William Flower places so much reliance,

50 GBEVY'S ZEBRA.

is merged in tlie transverse stripes in the Somali -land skin.
I am free to confess tliat I think the specific distinctions
that are made to depend on alterations and locations of
colour are extremely unsatisfactory. That the narrowness
or broadness of the stripes, or their being more or less
numerous, should cause animals to be regarded as being
specifically distinct, appears to me to be a fallacious idea.

'r^i^.

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CHAPTER VIII.
BURCHELL'S ZEBEA.

{Equus hurchellii. Gray.)

The best known zebra at the present time is tliat wliicli
was named after Burcliell, the African traveller. The
species is still common in some parts of South Africa,
and is now being utilised in the coach teams in the
Transvaal. The Burchell differs from the mountain zebra
{E. zehra) in several essential parts. It is a larger and
stronger animal_, with shorter ears, which are rarely
more than G^in. in length, and have a much larger
proportion of white, a longer mane, and a fuller and
more horse -like tail. The general colour is pale
yellowish brown, the stripes being dark brown or nearly
black. There is usually a longitudinal stripe along the
under side. The dorsal stripe is defined by a white line
over the haunches, and there are not any stripes proceed-
ing from it at right angles as in the mountain zebra.

There are two, if not more, well-marked varieties of
Burchell's zebra. The one originally described was remark-
able for the absence of markino-s on the fore leo's and on
the tail. In the other variety the limbs are covered more
or less completely with transverse stripes, and this form
has been named after its first discoverer, Mr. E. Chapman.
Chapman's zebra was originally described by Mr. E. L.
Layard in the Zoological Society's Proceedings for 1865.

E 2

52 BURCHELrS ZEBRA.

Mr. Layard compared it with the mountain zebra, and said
it was distinguished by the union of all the black stripes,
with a median one on the belly.

" The new animal (he wrote) also differs from the other zebras
in having the callosities on the legs far larger and of a more
rounded shape, in having shorter and more equine earsr
measuring only 6fin. instead of ll|in., and in having a shorter
and more equine head and tail. The hoofs are also flatter than
in the common zebra, and not adapted for mountain work. The
mane grows several inches down on the forehead, and stands up
between the ears, so that when seen in full face it stands far
higher than them. They roam in large herds, and are first met
with about 200 miles from the coast inwards on leaving Walwich
Bay, where Equus zebra (or, rather, a variety of that animal)
prevails. The height of a young male shot in 1862, at the
shoulder, was 4|ft. ; at the rump, 5ft."

This animal was also described in the same communica-
tion by Mr. Baines, and figured by Mr. Wolf. The
distinction between Burchel?s and Chapman's zebras — if
the latter is allowed to stand as a true species, which is
very doubtful — is merely that of marking, and it has not
affected apparently the character of the animal. This sub-
species, E. chapmani, has a very wide range. The skin
which is represented in the engraving was forwarded ta
Mr. P. L. Sclater (who exhibited it at the meeting of the
Zoological Society) from Masailand, East Africa, which is
between the Lake Victoria Nyanza and the east coast.

BurchelFs zebra is not only a larger, but, from a utili-
tarian point of view, a much better-formed animal than the
mountain zebra, which may be described as far more asinine
in form. It is also more easily broken to harness, and
readily becomes a domesticated animal. Some years since
I visited Theobalds, the seat of Sir H. Meux, to see a

BUEC HELL'S ZEBU A.

mare of this species that had several hybrid foals, and,
although she had never been handled, I walked quietly
up to her in her paddock and placed my hand on her
Avithers without her evincing any uneasiness — in fact, she
was much more docile than her hybrid offspring.

It is only recently that the Cape Colonists have arrived
at the conclusion that BurchelPs zebra is a desirable beast

SKIN OF BUECHELL S ZEBRA FROM MASAILAND,
EAST AFRICA.

of draught and of burden. This fact, however, may be
regarded as having been very distinctly demonstrated. A
number are now being driven, and I reproduce a photograph
of a team of Burchells driven four-in-hand in a two-wheeled
Cape cart. This demonstrates the fact that tbey can not
only be employed in teams with other animals, but tJiat

54 BURCHELL'S ZEBRA.

they are sufficiently docile to be used alone. In 1893
BurclielFs zebras were on sale in the Cape at prices varying
from £10 and upwards, and several have recently been
imported into this country for the purpose of demonstrating
their utility as beasts of draught, to ascertain their pro-
lificacy in this country with their own and other species,
and their capabilities of adaptation to the conditions of life
that here obtain.

Writing of this species from Johannesburg in the Transvaal
in December, 1892, Mr. Harold Stephens states: —

'^ You will be pleased to hear that an effort is being made
in the Transvaal to domesticate and use the zebra for
purposes of draught. On hearing that Messrs. Zeedesberg,
the coach contractors, who run passengers and mails from
Pretoria in the Transvaal to Fort Tuli in Mashonaland, had
been successful in their efforts in training the zebra, I
determined to make full inquiries when next in Pretoria.

^' Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal, is a very pretty
little town situated about thirty-five miles to the north of
Johannesburg, and as the sittings of the High Court are
held there, it was not long before I found myself, in com-
pany with others, journejang towards it in a coach and ten
horses, the usual method of travelling out here. Mr. James
Zeedesberg, who I met by appoiutment the next afternoon,
told me that his firm about two months ago bought eight
half-grown wild zebras from a hunter named Groblaar.
Groblaar caught them in a wild state between four and five
months ago by riding after and lassoing them. During
the last month they have been in training for harness, with
the result that four of them are perfectly quiet and well
trained, and the remaining four partially trained. The
place where they are located is at the station in Petersberg,
in the district of Zoutpansberg, Transvaal. It appears

^ ' '—

THr TRAHSyAAU, HOTEL

C?/;^,,^,

Utilisation of Burchell's Zebka in the Teansvaal.

BUBC HELL'S ZEBRA. 55

they are a little timid at first when the harness is being put
on; but afterwards they are all right, and Mr. Zeedesberg
believes in a month or two's time they will be as steady as
horses. They pull well and are very willing, and never
jib — a vice which is very prevalent in the horses of this
country. In fact, one of them will do his best to pull the
whole coach himself.

^^ As you will see by the photograph which I send you,
they are now being used in one of Messrs. Zeedesberg's
coaches; and Mr. James Zeedesberg says they are so
satisfied with the experiment, so far as it has gone, that he
is going to extend it, with the object of ultimately
substituting them for mules, as the zebra is free from that
scourge of South Africa commonly called " horse sickness/'
which any of your readers w^ho have been out here will
know costs an enormous amount to coach proprietors in
horse flesh during the summer season. In some parts of
the low country it is quite sufficient for a horse to be left
out all night in the veldt (grass) to ensure its death from
this dreaded disease.

^^ The zebras, when inspanned (harnessed to the coach),
stand quite still and wait for the word to go, they pull up
when required, and are perfectly amenable to the bridle,
and are softer mouthed than the mule. They never kick,
and the only thing in the shape of vice which they
manifest is that, Avhen first handled, they have an inclina-
tion to bite, but as soon as they get to understand that
there is no intention to hurt them they give this up. Four
of these zebras are now inspanned and driven in a team
together, and are as reliable and good as the best mules ;
the other four, bei^g older, require a little more time to get
them perfectly trained. The illustration shows four zebras
inspanned with mules in one of the coaches at Petersberg.

56 BUBCHELL'S ZEBRA.

** The intention is to buy more and run them regularly in
the up-country coaches from and to Mashon aland, and this
will not be done as a useless experiment_, but with a
practical object, and if it succeeds, as Mr. Zeedesberg
believes, it will be the means of saving them hundreds of
pounds, which they now lose annually through horse
sickness. Later on attempts will be made to cross them
with the horse, with the object of getting a larger and
handsomer mule than the ordinary cross with the donkey,
and probably superior in every way.

"It will be interesting to watch the progress of these
experiments, which may bring about a new and important
industry, for if the cross between the zebra and the
horse can be brought about without difficulty, it will
not be long before these animals will be preferred to
ordinary mules, numbers of which are shipped out here
from Monte Video, while those who are interested in
natural history will only be too pleased at the chance of
adding the zebra to the list of our few domesticated
animals. ^^

In reference to this interesting letter, Capt. M. H. Hayes
writes : " The zebra referred to by Mr. Harold Stephens is
the Equus burchellii, a very easy animal to tame. At the
Agricultural Show which was held at Pretoria, April, 1892,
I broke in a BurchelFs zebra, which belonged to Mr.
Ziervogel, quiet to ride after about half an hour's handling,
without having to throw him down, tie him head to tail, or to
resort to any of the other heroic methods of the horse-tamer.
Equus zebra is of quite a different temper, and is an
extremely difficult animal to subdue. I look forward to
the Burcheirs zebra becoming a very useful domestic
animal; but the conformation of Equus zebra is not suited
to civilised requirements."'^ And in his valuable work,

BUBCHELBS ZEBRA. 57

recently piiblislied, on '^ The Points of the Horse/^ treating
of this species, he writes :

*' Its legs, below the knees and hocks, from their * flatness,'
with the back tendons and suspensory ligaments clearly show-
ing, are much more like those of a well-bred horse than are those
of the mountain zebra. It further resembles the horse bv
having a fairly lissom neck and a well-rounded barrel, and in
the size of its head and ears. The typical Burchell's zebra has
no dark stripes, or only very slight ones, below the elbows and
stifles, on the legs. The Orange Eiver has been generally
regarded as its isouthern limit. Mr. F. C. Selous, the celebrated
African sportsman and naturalist, tells me that it ' was first
discovered by Burchell near the Orange Eiver in Southern
Bechuanaland. It is still to be met with in Kama's country,
and along the northern and eastern borders of the Transvaal
In the neighbourhood of the Pungwe Eiver it exists in very
great numbers, herds of hundreds together being common.' It
is probably widely distributed throughout Central and Eastern
Africa. On account of the fact that this zebra, when in a wild
state, possesses immunity from the effects of the bite of the
tsetse fly, which is certain death to horses, I strongly advocated,
while I was in South Africa, the taming and employment for
harness or saddle of these animals in * fly ' infected districts.
With respect to this subject, Mr. Selous writes to me that:
' Although Burchell's zebra, born and brought up in the ' fly '
country, does not suffer from its bite, it is my opinion that if a
young one was caught and brought up in a locality where there
was no ' fly,' and was then taken into a ' fly ' infested district,
it would die. This, however, is only my opinion.' As the
Burchell zebra is comparatively easy to break in, and as it will
breed in confinement, there is but little doubt that it will in
time become domesticated. If, as is quite possible, it possesses
httle or no tendency to contract ' horse sickness ' it will prove
a valuable means of conveyance in South Africa."

The advantages of the utilisation of BurchelPs zebra as

58 BUBCHELL'S ZEBBA.

a beast of transport are so evident that they have com-
mended themselves to all military officers familiar with
African animals. Captain Lugard, in his work on our East
African Empire, after speaking of the elephant and other
beasts of transport, writes as follows : — -

" There is another animal in East Africa which offers, as I
have said, possibihties of domestication, viz., the zebra. If this
animal were tamed, the question of transport would be solved.
Impervious to the tsetse-fly, and to climatic diseases, it would be
beyond cakadation valuable.

"The species found both in East Africa and Nyasaland i,s
' Burchell's ' (Eqnvs hurchellii). It is a lovely animal, of perfect
symmetry, and very strongly built, standing about fourteen
hands high. The bright black and wliite stripes of the zebra
would appear to be the most conspicuous marking imaginable.
Yet, when standing in the sparse tree-forest, it is one of the
hardest of all animals to see, and even after it has been pointed
out to me close in front, I have sometimes been unable to
distinguish it, though, as a rule, I am even quicker at sighting
game than a native. The flickering lights in a forest, and the
glancing sunbeams and shadows, are counterfeited exactly by the
zebra's stripes, and thus it is that nature affords protection to an
animal otherwise peculiarly liable to destruction in the jungle ;
in the open plains, where his enemies cannot steal upon him
unawares, he can rely for his safety on his own fleetness.

*' The zebra throughout East Africa, so far as my observation
goes, has suffered complete immunity from the cattle-plague,
which has attacked most of the rest of the game. This disease
has now spread south to Nyasaland, and Mr. Sharpe reports that
between Mweru and Tanganyika Lakes he saw numbers of dead
zebra. Mr. Crawshay also rej^orts great mortality among the
zebra in that district. Here — in Masailand and on the Athi
plains — herds nimibering their thousands may be seen, and these
have not suffered from the plague.

" Some years ago (1888) I advocated experiments in taming

Burchell's Zebra.

Mountain Zebra.

Burchell's and Mountain Zebras contrasted, showing equine and asinine character

respectively.

BVBCHELL'S ZEBRA. 59

the zebra, and I especially suggested that an attempt should be
made to obtain zebra-mules by horse or donkey mares. Such
mules, I believe, would be found to be excessively hardy, and
impervious to the fly and to climatic diseases.

" When we recollect that the zebra is found all the way from
the coast to the far parts of Uganda (I have seen them in Buddu),
and that countless thousands roam on the level plains of
Masailand, where every possible facility is afforded by the open
nature of the ground either for riding them do^vn and lassoing
them, or for capturing them by driving them into ki'aals or
kheddahs, we shall realise that, when once the possibility of
training the zebra as a pack or draught animal is demonstrated,
the question for animal transport for East Africa is finally solved.
The elephant would be invaluable in many ways, but his utility
as an agent for the development of the country cannot be com-
pared Avith that of the domesticated zebra. I would even go
further, and say that their exj^ort might prove one of the sources
of wealth and revenue in the future, for, as everyone knows, the
paucity of mules, both for mountain batteries and for transport
purposes, has long been one of the gravest difiiculties in our
otherwise almost perfect Indian army corps. I would therefore
advocate that the zebra should be at once protected, and its
slaughter absolutely prohibited. Its capture might be made a
State monopoly."

The ready training of BuvchelFs zebra as a draught
animal has been demonstrated by the Honourable Walter
Eothschild, who has placed three in the hands of a
very careful breaker, and they are now being driven
both in single and double harness in the streets of
London.

I have to express my thanks to Capt. Hayes, and the
London Stereoscopic Company, for the permission to copy the
admirable photograph of Burchell's zebra which illustrates
this chapter, and to the Zoological Society for the per-
mission to use the two engravings which demonstrate so

60 BURCHELUS ZEBBA.

convincingly the horse-like form ol' BurchelFs zebra, and
its fitness for the service of man as compared with the
more asinine conformation of the mountain zebra. At the
Jardin des Plantes experiments are now being made on
the production and utilisation of cross-bred animals
between the mountain and BurchelPs zebras.

BurchelFs zebra is now often called the quagga in some
districts of South Africa — an error which has unfortunately
been followed in the late Lord Randolph Churchiirs vvork
on ^'' Men, Mines, and Animals in South Africa.^^

ip, ■:.■

i f

<=ri

S i

CHAPTER IX.

THE QUAGGA.

{Equus quagga. Linnceus.)

The quagga^ the last remaining species of the Equid^
that I have to describe, is probably at the present time an
extinct animal, although within my own knowledge
specimens existed in the gardens of the Zoological Society,
and its hybrids, bred in the gardens, were driven about
London in a light tandem, which was employed to convey
vegetables from Covent Garden Market to the Eegent's
Park gardens. Before the foundation of the society, a pair
of imported quaggas were in the early part of the present
century driven about London in a phaeton by Mr. Sheriff
Parkins, and Lieut. -Col. C. Hamilton Smith, in his un-
published volume on the Equidae, 1841, states that he
drove one in a gig, and that its mouth was as delicate as
that of a horse ; he further stated that it had better
quarters and was more horse-like even than Burchell's
zebra, and added : ^' It is unquestionably the best calcu-
lated for domestication both as regards strength and
docility,' ' and he gives drawings taken by his own hands,
not only of a male and female quagga, but also of a hybrid
foal of a brood mare and quagga, which shows faint marks
of stripes.

Half a century ago Captain W. Cornwallis Harris, in his
magnificent folio of the '' Wild Animals of Southern Africa,'^

62 THE QUAGGA.

describes the quagga as existing in immense herds in the
Cape Colony in the open and level lowlands ; and, writing-
some seventy years since, Thomas Pringle, the well-known
poet of South Africa, who was intimately acquainted with
the large animals of the Cape Colony, described the quagga
as then abundant in the Great Karroo. In his poem, ^^ Afar
in the Desert,^^ he writes :

Afar in the desert I love to ride,
With the silent bushboy alone by my side ;
O'er the brown Karroo, where the bleating cry
Of the springbok's fawn sounds plaintively,
And the timorous quagga's shrill whistling neigh,
Is heard by the fountain at twilight grey,
Where the zebra wantonly tosses his mane.
With wild hoof scouring the desolate plain.

And in a note he says : " The cry of the quagga (pronounced
quagha or quacha) is very different from that of either
the horse or ass, and I have endeavoured to express its
peculiar character in the above line ; '^ in another note to
the same poem he says : " The zebra is commonly termed
wilde-paard, or wild horse, by the Dutch African colonists.
This animal is now scarce within the colony, but is still
found in considerable herds in the northern wastes and
mountains inhabited by the Bushmen.''

The geographical range of the quagga appears to have
been much more restricted than that of the other species.
Mr. H. Bryden, in his interesting work entitled " Kloof and
Karroo," which may be rightly described as an admirable
account of the sports, legends, and natural history of the
Cape Colony, writes as follows :

"The range of the true quagga was even more arbitrarily
defined. This animal, formerly so abundant upon the far
spreading karroos of the Cape Colony and the plains of the

THE QUAGGA. 63

Orange Free State, appears never to liave been met with north
of the Vaal river. Its actual habitat may be precisely defined
as within Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, and part of
Griqualand West. I do not find that it ever extended to
Namaqu aland and the Kalahari Desert to the west, or beyond
the Kei river, the ancient eastern limit of Cape Colony to the
east. In many countries, and in Southern Africa in particular,
nothing is more singular than the freaks of geographical
distribution of animals. A river or a desert, or a httle belt of
sand or timber, none of which, of themselves, could naturally
oppose a complete obstacle to the animal's range, is yet found
limiting thus arbitrarily the habitat of a species."

Like BurchelFs zebra, the quagga was more equine than
asinine in character; but it wanted the callosity on the
inner side of the hind leg below the hock which is charac-
teristic of the horse. The quagga was marked on the head
and neck and front of the body with dark brown stripes on
a light reddish-brown ground. These stripes gradually
faded away behind the shoulder, and were absent from the
hind quarters. There was a broad dark stripe down the
centre of the back ; the under-surf ace of the body, legs, and
tail were nearly white. The stripes on the neck ran up into
the mane, which was banded alternately with white and
brown. The crest was high, the ears short, the tail fairly
covered with hair, so that the animal altogether was much
more closely allied in appearance to the horse than to the
ass. The extermination of this animal is greatly to be
regretted ; it is most lamentable to know that this species,
which might have become a most useful domestic quadruped,
admirably fitted for the requirements of the inhabitants of
the country of which it was a native, should have been
shot down by the colonists merely for the sake of its hide ;
and it is sincerely to be hoped that its congener, BurchelFs
zebra, which is still in large herds to the north of the

64: TEE QUAGGA.

Orange river, and which promises to be so exceedingly
valuable, may be reclaimed and utilised for the service of
man. Its preservation is equally desirable from a utilitarian
as from a zoological point of vie\v.

Since the foregoing account of the quagga was in type,
it has been stated by Mr. Riecbe, the importer of the
giraffe and other South African animals, that it is possible
that the true quagga has not been exterminated.

CHAPTER X.

HYBRID EQUID^.

It would appear that all the different species of the genus
Equus are capable of breeding together and producing
hybrid offspring, some of which are perfectly sterile mules,
whilst others are apparently fertile, either with one or other
parent species if not inter se. Some of these hybrids are
of great economic value, and it is deeply to be regretted
that the opportunities that have presented themselves in our
European zoological collections have not been utilised as
they might have been, in introducing new species into the
service of man, and in producing other useful hybrids
beyond the common mule.

In the present chapter I propose to enumerate, as far as
practicable, the various equine hybrids that have been
produced, and of which any definite account has been
published, commencing with those of the horse.

Horse {E. cahallus) Hybrids.

It appears most probable, though it has not been
absolutely proved, that the horse is capable of producing
hybrids with every other species of the genus Equus. The
hybrid between the horse and the ass is well known.
When the ass is the male parent it is termed a mule ; on
the other hand, if the horse is the sire the produce is
termed a hinny, or in some places a jennet. The considera-

66 HYBRID EQUIDM

tion of the breeding and practical utilisation of these
two hybrids will be fully treated of in the concluding
chapters.

The horse has bred repeatedly with both the Mountain
and Burchell's zebra. In the Jardin d'Acclimatation there
is at the present time a hybrid between the horse and the
BurchelPs zebra, of bright bay colour, with black legs and
distinct dorsal stripe. Some years since I described some
hybrids between the horse and the female Burchell which
were in the park of Sir Henry Meux at Theobalds. The
sire of one was an ordinary park pony, that of the other an
American trotting pony. This latter hybrid was striped
on the legs, neck, and haunches. Both of them, as might
be expected, showed much of the equine character and form
of the male parent; and from the relative sexes of the
parents they necessarily partook more of the characters of
the hinny than of the mule.

Early in this century a pair of hybrids, bred between the
horse and BurchelFs zebra, were driven about London in the
service of the Zoological Society, but I have not been able
to ascertain definitely the relative sex of the two parents,
but believe they were hinnys from a zebra mare. The horse
has also bred with the Asiatic ass {E. hemionus). In a
private letter Lieutenant J. L. Harrington informs me
of a male Hemione breeding with an Indian pony, and
producing a hybrid that, with the exception of the tail,
which was asinine, looked more like a pony than anything*
else.

Two hybrids, between a Hemione and a mare, in the
Jardin d'Acclimatation, were described by the late Mr.
Jenner Weir. One of these is a very beautiful animal,
possessing no shoulder stripes, and with very faint dorsal
jstripe.

HYBRID EQUID.E. 67

Ass {E. asinus) Hybrids.

The hybrids between both sexes of the ass and the horse
have been spoken of under the last heading. The ass also
hybridises freely with BurchelPs zebra ; a hybrid of this
is now in the Jardin d^Acclimatation. It is rather sparely
striped, but the three shoulder stripes are well marked.

Asiatic Ass {E. hemionus) Hybrids.

The Asiatic iiss hybridises with the horse, as has been
already stated. It has also been mated with BurclielPs
zebra in the Jardin des Plantes, the produce being a
faintly striped animal with a broad dorsal stripe, the hind
quarters of which are not striped but dappled. The cross
between the Asiatic ass and the mare has been already
named.

Mountain Zebra (E. zebra) Hybrids.

Several of these were apparently recorded in the
" Knowsley Menagerie," but sufficient care was not taken to
distinguish between the two species, namely, the Mountain
and BurchelPs zebras.

Burchell's Zebra (E. hurchellii) Hybrids.

BurchelPs zebra breeds most freely with several of the
other species of Equus, and there is no doubt whatever that
the hybrids of this most horse-like of the asses and zebras
now existing would be exceedingly valuable to man if the
animals were mated as carefully as is done in breeding
heavy draught mules in Poitou, and pack mules for the
military service in India. The Burchell is an animal much
better adapted by its structure and form to the use of man
than the otlier wild asses, and were it properly mated and

P 2

HYBRID EQUIDjE.

utilised would no doubt produce most valuable hybrid
offspring. The hybrids of the Burchell zebra with the
horse have already been mentioned ; it also breeds freely
with the common ass. In the Gardens of the Zoological
Society at Melbourne there are some Burchell's zebras that
were bred in Paris, for this most useful animal breeds freely
in confinement. On September 6th, 1892, an experiment

BURCHELL S ZEBRA AND HYBRID FOAL.

(From a photograph.)

was made by crossing the zebra with a white so-called
Siamese ass, which was obviously a variety of the domesti-
cated Equus asinus. The foal was born on October 25th,
1893, showing that the period of gestation in Burchell's
zebra resembles that of the ass in being considerably over
twelve months. The young one is described as a strong,

HYBBID EQUin^. 09

vigorous animal, galloping round the enclosure Avhen a day
old and evincing considerable speed. Its colour is somewhat
remarkable, not resembling that of its white sire, but being-
very dark Avith pronounced shoulder and dorsal stripes,
black tips to its ears, and bars on the legs, which are well
marked, especially over the joints — the zebra from which
it was bred being a true Burchell, not marked on the legs
like the variety known as Chapman^ s zebra. The foal is
described as being a compact and well-made little animal,
showing splendid bone. As the progeny of the Burchell
zebra are likely to attract much attention, I reproduce
the photograph as it was published in the Australasian.

In the Jardin d'Acclimatation there is another hybrid
between a BurchelFs zebra and a white Egyptian ass, which
shows three distinct shoulder stripes, but otherwise is very
faintly marked.

A hybrid between a male BurchelFs zebra and the common
ass was bred by the Earl of Derby and figured in the
"Knowsley Menagerie." It was utilised by being driven in
tandem, and the skin was afterwards deposited in the
British Museum. The Hemione or Asiatic wild ass has also
been bred with Burchell' s zebra.

QuAGGA {E. qiiagga) Hybrids.

In Colonel Hamilton Smith's unpublished volume he
gives a portrait, drawn by himself, of a hybrid, the foal of
a quagga and a brood mare. This was faintly striped on
the fore-quarters.

In the fine collection of plates known as the ^^ Knowsley
Menagerie '^ there are numerous illustrations of the wild
Equidae, more especially of the striped species inhabiting
Africa, namely, the Equus zebra, E. burchellii, and
E. quagga. All these species interbreed, not only -with

70 HYBRID EQUIDM

each other, but with the wild unstriped asses of Asia.
Dr. Gray figured in the ^^Knowsley Menagerie'' ^ mule
bred at Knowsley between a male Tibetan wild ass, or
kiang, and the female zebra. In this the legs and neck are
banded. There is also a figure of a mule between a Maltese
male ass and zebra, in which the head, neck, and legs are
well striped, the body less so, and the hind quarters
profusely spotted. Should any of my readers refer to the
plate in the folio they will find that the names of those two
have been transposed, as is evident on referring to the text.
There are also figured a mule between BurchelPs zebra and
the common ass ; a second between the ass and the kiang,
the titles of which are also transposed on the plate ; finally,
we have a mule between the kiang and Burchell's zebra,
and, what is very interesting, a representation of the
offspring of a mule, of male ass and zebra parentage, with
a bay pony mare. This strange animal may be described
as iron-grey, with a short, narrow dark band on the
withers, very faint indications of perpendicular stripes on
the sides, distinct dark stripes on the hocks and knees, a
horse-like tail, bushy from the base, and a heavy head with
a grey hog mane. This creature, singular from its triple
parentage, was eight hands high, and was regularly used
in harness.

PART II.
MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

CHAPTER XI.
THE UTILIZATION OF MULES.

It is a remarkable circumstance that the utility of mules

is a fact that requires to be demonstrated in England at

the present time, although it is freely acknowledged and

extensively acted upon in almost all othei* civilized

countries employing horse labour to any great extent. In

France the agricultural interest of a large portion of

the west central districts mainly depends upon mule

breeding, as many as 50,000 mares being annually

maintained for the purpose of breeding the magnificent

Poitou heavy draught mules, which command a much

higher price than horses of similar standard. In Spain

and Italy the employment of mules is proverbial. In

America a hundred years ago mules were viewed with the

same amount of prejudice that they are in England at the

present time. Now, perhaps, the greater portion of the

agricultural labour in that country is performed by mules,

ot* whose advantages the acute Americans are firmly

convinced by the most potent of all reasoning, that of

experience, and large consignments of the best European

donkeys are constantly being made to the States for the

purpose of mule breeding. Our military operations Avhen

on active service caunot be carried on in foreign countries

without the aid of mules, inasmuch as horses are utterly

72 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

unable t(j endure the severe work that tbe animals are called
upon to perform. There is no possible doubt in the minds
of any persons who are acquainted with the subject, as will
be fully demonstrated in the following- chapters, that in
endurance, capability of hard labour, economy in keep,
longevity, and freedom from disease, mules far surpass
horses, and it is these g*ood qualities that have caused them
to he almost universally adopted in the south of France,
Spain, Italy, and, above all, by our American cousins. In
the extensive wheat fields of many thousand acres which
are to be found on the prairies of the United States, may
be seen at one time ten or fifteen reaping machines, each
one of which is drawn by a pair of mules, not a single horse
or mare being visible. It may be asked then, what are the
circumstances that have rendered mules hitherto so lightly
appreciated in this country ? The only answer to be made
to this question is, that it is due to the unfounded
prejudices which are based upon the most extraordinary
ignorance of the merits and characters of the animal. It is
difficult to conceive or overstate the want of knowledge
and the false ideas that prevail regarding them, and this
not only amongst persons who have little knowledge
of the subject, but amongst those who are regarded as
authorities upon equine subjects. Thus Mr. Eobert
Wallace, professor of agriculture in no less an institution
than the University of Edinburgh, when writing about
mnles, in his valuable and practical work " Farm Live
Stock,^^ published as recently as 1893, does not appear
to know whether the animals are fertile or barren, and
states that : —

" The mule is generally believed to be barren, but is not so in
the case of the female mule and the female hinny."

THE UTILIZATION OF MULES. 73

It being well-known to those who are acquainted with the
subject that no satisfactorily authenticated example of a
fertile female mule bred between the horse and ass has
ever been known, and, as will be shown in the chapter on
this subject, that Id the mule breeding districts of France,
where many thousand mules are produced annually,
such a thing as a fertile female mule is utterly unknown,
although the conditions under which the animals are kept
would be favourable to such a result. Again, in a
manuscript work on the Equidae by the late Colonel
Hamilton Smith, illustrated by one hundred folio drawings
of the varieties of equine animals, the author states that three
male mules are born to one female, a statement not worth
quoting or noticing except as illustrating the prevalent
ignorance regarding these animals, the proportion of births
■of the two sexes being about equal. But perhaps the
most remarkable example of multiplied errors has recently
appeared in a book entirely devoted to horses, namely
"The Horse World of London,'' by W. J. Gordon,
published by the Beligious Tract Society, 1893. The
writer states that : —

•* There are over 200,000 donkeys in Ireland employed in
iigriculture, and these are of all sizes, some of the larger having
a strain of horse blood in them, as is the case in Italy, where
the so-called donkey is a by no means insignificant animal.
Italy has more donkeys than any other European country, there
being over 700,000 of them there ; while France, which of late
years has taken to that most difficult of pursuits, mule-breeding,
has 400,000. The great mule-breeding country is, however, the
United States, where there are two and a half millions of mules
and donkeys taken together, it being found impossible to
separate them owing to the varying proportions of horse ancestry
producing an indefinite series from the genuine mule to the
asinine mulatto. For the male mule is not always sterile, and

74 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

the female will l:»reed with horse or ass, or a^jparentlj any
species of Equiis."

It is difficult to conceive a statement respecting mules or
donkeys which could be so utterly baseless as the farrago of
nonsense just quoted. That the size of the Italian donkeys
should depend upon their being hybrids is, of course, utterly
unfounded, and that it is impossible to separate the mules
and donkeys in the United States owing to the various
proportions of horse ancestry, is one of the most ludicrous
statements that ever was made. From such a tissue of
absurdities it is most satisfactory to turn to a work which
has been published by a gentleman long resident in India,
and who is perfectly acquainted with the value of the mule
in that country.

Mr. John L. Kipling, in his most delightful and instruc-
tive volume entitled '' Beast and Man in India,^^ informs us
that the mule is of European introduction, being really a
Government institution, he adds : —

" The mule, however, is bred in increasing numbers, for he is
an ideal pack animal, born and made to carry the burdens of
armies over difficult countries, and good at draught. Sure of
foot, hard of hide, strong in constitution, frugal in diet, a first-
rate weight carrier, indiiferent to heat and cold, he combines the
l>est, if the most homely, characteristics of both the noble houses
from which he is descended. He fails in beauty, and his infertility
is a reproach, but even ugliness has its advantages. The heavy
head of the mule is a mercy to him, for both in practice and the
written orders of Government, it is ordained that he is not to
be bothered with bearing-reins."

From those Avho know the actual working of mules in
other parts of the world, it is perfectly easy to get any
amount of evidence as to their extraordinary value. In
rough countries they far surpass an}^ other equine animaL

THE UTILIZATION OF MULES. 75

A correspondent, dating from Texas some few years since,
writes as follows : —

" I have just returned from a trip west with a mule train, of
about 400 miles, through a country where bridges are unknown,
and the roads are the best place you can find to drive — some-
times mountainous, intersected with steep-banked creeks ; at
others long steep rises, with draws between 2ft. or 3ft. deep in
black mud, and after a rain almost impassable for miles, as the
ruts cut in axle-deep, and if you leave them you have to unload
and get back to where you can feel bottom. We frequently
helped to pull out teams that were stuck fast, and for one mule
team we pulled three horse teams, as, if properly handled, the
mules will come down on their knees at a pull as many times as
von ask them. We never ask but twice, and, if stuck fast,
either cut loose the ' trail ' or double team. In explanation of
this last term, I may state that the usual way of freighting is
to take four to eight mules, generally six, two abreast, the
leaders small quick Spanish mules, with a span of large
American mules as wheelers ; the driver riding the near wheeler-
Two waggons, the larger one in front, and a lighter one or
' trail ' behind, are attached to the axle of the front one, so as
to be easily uncoupled, and fitted with powerful 'California'
breaks, which the driver controls with a line. He drives with a
single rein, or ' jerk line.' Having the load divided between
eight wheels, it does not cut into the sand or mud as it would
on four.

" Six mules, the leaders no larger than ponies, will take 6000
to 7000 pounds anywhere, making fifteen to thirty miles a day
according to the state of the roads, and I have known a team in
summer driven fifty miles, with 1000 pounds a head of load, to
reach water, and not appear to suffer. They do not recpiii'e the
feed horses do (who invariably lose flesh in the winter time) ,
but will live on maize with very little roughness.

" With regard to drivers, you find more Irish or English than
niers^ers ; it is harder work than the latter appreciate. I should
like your supply ofiicers to have seen a train of the United States

76 MULES AND MULE BBEEDING.

cavalry I met in January last, in six inches of snow, after a
march of eighteen days through a country where they had to
haul their own feed and supplies, and compare the mules with
the outfits after the autumn manoeuvres, as I saw them some
few years ago. Mules, weight for weight, will pull more than
horses, live on less, and ' come down in a tight ' more times.

" Now for farm work ; there is a patch of 250 acres of wheat a
few miles trom here, where last spring was open prairie, that
was ploughed and planted with two span of mules, and looks as
well as any farmer can desire. With a good sulky plough,
which does not tire the driver, a span will plough two to thrte
acres j)er day.

" For saddle or driving, if a man has a really good saddle mule,
he is like the kings and great men of old; he would not trade
for all the horses in the country. They are as pleasant to drive,
and if properly handled as gentle and good-conditioned, as
horses."

Another writer recounts the advantages which as beasts
of burden they possess over the horse : —

" First, their working life is longer, in the ratio of about five
to two, than that of a horse ; secondly, they can live and thrive
upon food which soon reduces a horse to a weak and helpless
skeleton ; thirdly, they are indifferent to heat or cold ; fourthly,
they never know what it is to be sick ; fifthly, they can work day
and night without being worn out ; sixthly, they walk quicker
than horses ; seventhly, being light of limb and biilky of body,
their weight isl^etter disposed for moving heavy loads; eighthly,
they are, when of full size, considerably stronger than a team of
equal-numbered horses. I might repeat many other lesser
advantages which they possess. But at a time when horse
fodder of all kinds is continually rising in price, a farmer who
has from ten to twenty horses to keep would soon find how much
he would save in a year were he to replace them with mules ;
while, into the bargain, he would get twenty-five years of work
<jut of a fine mule where it is rare for a horse to last more than
from ten to twelve years."

THE UTILIZATION OF MULES. 77

To those interested in the subject and therefore desirous
of making themselves acquainted with the facts bearing on
the advantages of mule labour^ the value of the mule has
been long known. Mr. John Chalmers Morton, writing*
nearly twenty years since, speaks of the draught Poitou
mules in the following terms : —

" They are hardy, willing workers, of great power, and good-
tempered ; they will produce and put in exercise more force per
shilhng of their daily cost than horses ; they are less liable to
injury or illness ; and they are longer lived. This is ' the case '
in favour of the mule as compared with the horse for farm work.
It has long since been proved and known in other countries, and
the powerful mules of Poitou, and mules similarly bred in
America, accordingly command higher prices than are given for
horses of corresponding size or for corresponding uses. It is
not yet kno^m in this country."

Col. Langhorne Wister, of Philadelphia, U.S., a great
^^ raiser" of mules, gives the following account of the
value of these animals in a private letter to a friend :

" I have made a good many inquiries about mules for work
of all sorts, but especially for farm work, and find that all who
have used them think them more valuable than horses. In
York County, Pennsylvania, they have almost entirely taken the
place of horses for farm work, and the farmers say that they
can stand more work, can get along on more inferior food, and
can endure infinitely more hardship than horses, and are fully
as tractable. It is a very well-known fact that mules live on
an average much longer than horses, and I never saw a mule,,
no matter how old, that could not do his ordinary work. I will
not assert, what was frequently assci'ted before our war, that no
one ever saw a dead mule, for many died during the war ; but
they supplanted horses entirely for draught purposes, and stood
all the hardships of campaigns better. The York County mules
are of large size, and usually brought in from Kentucky, the-

78 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

state where the best ones are bred. By large size I mean 16 to
16 hands high, and weighing about from 10001b. to 12001b., but
often much heavier. However, I have seen teams used about
the charcoal blast furnaces which would average 16 hands,
weighing 14001b. each, the tall mules being nearly 18 hands
high ; but of course such are not common, nor are they desirable.
To sum up, I think I can say that mules live on an average five
years longer, and are able to do heavy work at least seven or eight
years longer than horses, they thrive on coarser food, and are
more free from disease. They are very easily broken by those
who understand them, but need kind treatment, as they are apt
to repel force by force — i.e., by kicking or striking with the fore
feet."

CHAPTER XII.
NON-FERTILITY AND LACTATION IN MULES.

The natural history of hybrids of all kinds has not received
due consideration even from naturalists and scientific
observers, and but little is known regarding them compared
with what has been ascertained respecting their progenitors.
No careful consideration of the facts relating to hybrids
has been put upon record, a few scattered observations as
to the fertility of some, and the absolute sterility of others,
are about all that has been made known.

The extraordinary circumstance that Mr. Bartlett,
superintendent of the Grardens of the Zoological Society,
should have definitely ascertained that fertile hybrids can
be bred between species as distinct as the bison of North
America, the buffalo of India, and the wild ox of Europe,
has passed almost unnoticed, although portraits of the
singular triple crosses so produced have been published
in the Proceedings of the Society. But no further
experiments have been made with the view of introducing
either of these crosses into our breeds of domestic
cattle, with the possibility of improving the characters of
the latter, and at present the only advantage that has
been gained by Mr. Bartlett's interesting experiments has
been to ascertain the fact that three very distinct species
of the Bovida3, inhabiting different parts of the world, can

80 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

be bred together in almost any manner so as to produce
fertile compound hybrids.

Regarding the facts that more imraediatel}^ concern us,
the character of the hybrids between the horse and the ass,
much more has been ascertained, although little scientific
observation has been brought to bear upon the question.
The relative influence of the male and female parent in
these cases is now well known, and the distinction between
the mule (the offspring of the ass and the mare) and the
hinny (the result of the union of the horse and the she
ass) is well ascertained. Both offspring depend for their
size on that of the female parent. As far as is known from
accurate observation, male and female mules and hinnys are
absolutely sterile, althoug-h certain accounts of fertile female
mules have occasionally appeared in print.

Captain Hayes, a very practical authority, writing on
this subject states :

" Neither the mule (the produce of the jackass and mare) nor
the hinny or jennet (the cross between the horse and the she
ass) is fertile, either among themselves, or with other members
of the horse family. Those animals which have been mistaken
by superficial observers as fertile mules, have been, I venture to
say, in most eases the offspring of mares that have previously
bred to donkeys, and have endowed their young with some of
the characteristics of their former asinine lovers. Both the
mule and the jennet respectively ' take after ' their dam in size,
and their sire in aj^pearance and disposition."

Those persons who have paid the greatest amount of
attention to mule production and mule industry know of no
instance of a female mule producing young, and M. Ayrault,
in his valuable treatise " De Tlndustrie Mulassiere,^^ the
standard work on mule breeding in France, says that in
Poitou, where 50,000 mares are annually employed in

NON-FERTILITY AND LACTATION IN MULES. 81

breeding mules, such a thing iis a fertile mule is unknown,
although these young mules are placed in the most favour-
able conditions for being mated, as they are constantly in
the pastures and on the marshes with the young horse
colts. M. Avrault's exact words are as follows : —

" Nous ne rechercherons pas ce que cette opinion pent avoir de
fonde, mais ce que nous tenons a constater c'est que jamais en
Poitou on n'a entendu parler de la gestation de la mule, bien
que la, a part la temperature, elle se trouve dans les meilleures
conditions pour ctre fecondce, puisqu'elle est constamment en
contact, dans les pasturages, avec des ponlains (horse colts), qui
souvent les saillissent." (p. 152.)

To this it may be replied that there is a well-known
instance in the Acclimatisation Gardens in Paris, where a
mule has produced foals when mated both Avith the horse and
the ass. As this is supposed to be the most authentic case
on record, it has been thought desirable to reproduce from
a photograph an exact representation of this supposed fertile
female mule, which has been most carefully drawn by Mr.
Frohawk. It is doubtful whether the animal is a mule.
There is but little mule character about her beyond the
slight increase in the size of the ears. The particulars of
her parentage are utterly unknown, and she was merely
alleged to be a mule by the Algerian natives who
sold her to the authorities in the gardens. It is not at all
improbable that her female parent had bred a mule in the
hrst instance, and, as in the well-known cases of mares
which have been mated with quaggas and zebras, her
subsequent progeny, when mated with a horse, shows some
trace of the first union. The late M. Ayrault, and most
persons who are really cognisant of the matter, regard this
animal not as a mule, but as an ordinary mare. She has
foaled l)oth to the ass and the horse. Her foals bred from

82 MULES AND MULE BRFJEBING.

tlie ass appear to be ordinary mules, and are sterile, whereas
if she were a mule they should be three-fourths asinine and
only one-fourth equine, which is not the case. Her progeny
by the horse are horses which have proved fertile. It
would appear most probable that this is not a case of a
fertile mule breeding ; but, that the animal is really an
ordinary mare, whose female parent was influenced by a first
alliance, as is so often the case in dogs and other animals.

There is no doubt that the majority of the accounts of
supposed fertile mules owe their origin to the fact that
abnormal lactation not unfrequently occurs in them, when
milk is secreted in great abundance, and they may be seen
suckling the foals of other animals. This singular
phenomenon is not confined to mules, but is well known to
occur in many other species.

The maternal instinct is one of the most powerful, and
there are numerous examples of its beiug so strongly
excited in females (other than the mother) in favour of the
young of animals of the same, and even of different species,
as to determine the abundant secretion of milk. Domestic
animals, such as cats and dogs, have been known to suckle
young of other species, even when they had no progeny of
their own; and corresponding instances among women who
have fostered orphan children are on record in the
physiological journals. Nay, more than this, a case is
related by Humboldt of a man who became the wet nurse
to an infant child. " In the village of Arenas there lived
a labourer, Francisco Lozano, who had suckled a child.
Its mother happening to be sick, he took it, and, in order
to quiet it, pressed it to his breast, when the stimulus
imparted by the sucking of the child caused a flow of milk.
The man was examined by M. Bonpland, who found the
breasts wrinkled, like those of women who have nursed.

NON-FERTILITY AND LACTATION IN MULES. 83

He was not an Indian, but a white, descended from
European parents/' Other authors have given examples of
the same nature.

The late Mr. Francis Francis described in the Field for
Oct. 27, I860, a maiden bitch at the Vine Kennels, that
brought up two litters of puppies in succession, and he saw
the last when they were about six weeks old. This
communication called forth several letters giving other
examples of similar facts. Mr. Sprent, of Heading, writing,
stated that he had a terrier bitch that never had puppies,
but she took a kitten from its mother, and had a good
secretion of milk with which she nourished it, and
numerous examples of similar facts are on record. The
most important, as having a direct bearing on the subject,
was recorded in a letter printed by one of the authors of
this work, Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier, in the Field of April 17,
1880, in which he says : —

'^ The case, however, which I am about to put upon
record is, I think, unprecedented, inasmuch as it is that of
a sterile hybrid animal suckling another. The facts are as
follows : An aged brown female mule that formerly, when
in the possession of Messrs. Flower, of Stratford-on-Avon,
had taken prizes at the large shows as a heavy draught
mule, passed into the stables of Mr. Cole, of Church-street,
Chelsea, who is well known as one who has employed mule
labour with great advantage for many years. I
accompanied Mr. C. L. Sutherland to the stables of Mr.
Cole, where we saw the mule in question, and a young male
donkey nearly a year old. This donkey foal had been
bought, and allowed to run about the stable yard. It had
been noticed to follow the mule, and at night to go into
her stall at the further end of the stable, where he was
observed sucking the mule, whose udder, on examination,

G 2

84 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

was found fully cliarg-ed with milk. Thinking the ])roceed-
ing rather ' unnatural/ Mr. Cole had the donkey removed,
and the mule milked by hand ; but this was not done to a
sufficient extent, and, in consequence, milk abscess occurred,
which opened, the udder having previously swollen to a
very large size.

^' This case is interesting, inasmuch as it proves that the
secretion of milk can take place in a hybrid animal which
is naturally sterile, and that it has no necessary connection
with the maternal relations."

This example is not by any means a solitary one. A
communication from the late Mr. J. B. Evans, of the Cape
Colony, appeared in the Live Stock Journal of June 23,
1893, in which he spoke of a mare mule having to be milked,
as each year she had adopted a foal, driving the mother
away, and secreting milk in abundance for the support of
the foal that she had fostered. Accounts not unfrequently
appear in the American and other papers, of mules which
are seen suckling young, and the conclusion is at once
arrived at that these young are the offspring of the
animals that are supporting them, but it may be regarded
as perfectly certain that they are merely adopted foals,
which by their endeavours to suck female mules have
developed in the latter abnormal lactation.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE POITOU MULE.

The marked distinction between the different types of
mules that are used for heavy draught, and the hghter
varieties that are employed for riding and the army service,
renders it desirable that they should be considered in
different chapters. As an animal for agricultural use the
Poitou mule far exceeds in value any other breed, and it
would be desirable to consider it, and its progenitor the
Poitou ass, in the first instance.

The old province of Poitou in the west of France has,
agriculturally speaking, for some centuries given itself up
in a great measure to the breeding of mules, chiefly for
the market. Extreme care has been taken in the breeding
of the asses, the sires of these mules ; and the Poitou mule
fairs — especially those held in the winter — are attended
by foreigners from all parts of the world for the purpose
of buying the great local production, the mules. It is
not an ud common sight to see at a fair as many as 1000
mules, from one to four years old, offered for sale.

There may be said to be two types of mules bred in the
Poitou, the light and the heavy, but the latter largely
predominate. The breeders find that heavy mules are
more in request, and bring more money as beasts of
draught than tlie lighter animals, and consequently they

86 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

endeavour to produce mules as gros as possible. Tlie
finest and largest cart mares are selected for the purpose ;
indeed, the best mares are always put to the ass (or haudet,
as he is termed) in preference to the horse. A mare if
she is capable of breeding a mule is considered more
valuable than one which will only breed to a horse. All
mares are not what is termed inter ieurement mtdassierex,
and in that case they are used to breed horse colts from.

The peculiarities of the Poitou mule as distinguished
from the Spanish and other mules are as follows :

The Poitou mule is eminently qualified for service as a
beast of heavy draught, and as such is capable of taking
the place of any ordinary farm horse. The head and ears
are large and decidedly coarse, according to our notions ;
bat the Poitou breeders maintain that they cannot get
the necessary weight of barrel without a correspondingly
large head and ears. The neck is short, and the animal
often carries a good crest. The chest is broad, the
shoulders rather upright and muscular. The mule is often
a little longer in the back than is desirable in a draught
animal, and is apt to stand over too much ground. The
barrel is capacious and well let down, though sometimes
the sides are apt to be a little flat. The quarters and
thighs, while strong and muscular, present on the whole
a narrower and lighter appearance than those of a draught
horse, and it is in these points particularly that Poitou
mules require improvement. The hocks are large, and,
while a large proportion of mules are cow-hocked, this
conformation does not render them more than ordinarily
liable to throw out bony growths, or to suffer from strains
of tendons or ligaments. While on the subject of bony
growths, it may be as well to correct a very prevalent
idea that mules are not as subject to them as horses. It

THE POITOU MULE. 87

is quite true that they are not to the same extent ; but
specimens of spavins^ ring-bones_, side-bones, and splints,
as well as curbs, may occasionally be seen in mules. The
peculiarity is that, although these exostoses are in many
cases well developed, the animals, owing to a singular
want of sensitiveness, rarely go lame with them.

We now come to the distiaguishing characteristic of the
Poitou mule, viz., limbs and feet. The legs are short and
stout, with plenty of bone, and the pasterns short, as becomes
a draught animal, and there is sometimes a good deal of
hair about the legs. By the limbs being stout it should
not be understood that they are round and gummy ;
on the contrary, they are flat and hard, whilst the feet are
larger and more expanded than those of any other breed
of mules. The heels are in many cases somewhat con-
tracted ; but in breeding this can be obviated to a great
extent by selecting a good open-footed jack as a sire.

It is in the matter of feet and limbs that the Poitou
differs essentially from the Spanish mule. It is well-known
to mule-breeders that, in crossing jacks and mares, the
resulting mule will take after the ass, its sire, in all its
extremities — that is, m ears, legs, feet, and tail. Thus in
Spain, where the asses are much finer in their limbs than
they are in Poitou, it is no uncommon sight to see mules
which may be aptly described as animals having a horse's
body on a donkey's legs and feet. The result is, that
animals of this conformation are utterly incapable of
steadying a heavy load on a bad road when placed in the
shafts, and, being swayed about by their load on account
of their barrels being too large for their limbs, their legs
and feet " give out" as the Americans term it. The value
of a good-sized foot for travelling over deep, heavy land
must also be taken into considevatiou.

88 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

The Poitou breeders^, having made this discovery, have
for some centuries devoted themselves to rearing a breed
of asses as mule-getters with as large limbs and feet as
possible, and the consequence is that the Poitou mules are
much more symmetrical in form and appearance generally,
and more capable of moving a heavy load, than the Spanish .
The Spanish mule is better fitted for light trotting work
than the Poitou, but it is the latter auimal which is pre-
eminently suited for introduction into this country for
agricultural purposes as an auxiliary of, and substitute for,
the horse.

Poitou mules are of all colours — bay, brown, black, grey,
white, and sometimes chestnut and skewbald ; but about
four-fifths of them take after the haiidet their sire in
colour, and he is always black, or dark brown. The height
of the draught mules ranges from 15 to 16 hands, rarely
more. Spanish mules sometimes reach 17 hands, but there
is generally too much daylight under these very tall
animals. The females always realise higher prices than
the males, chiefly on account of less risk being supposed
to attach to them during sea voyages. The price of a good
draught mule of three or four years of age ranges from
t^O to £60, sometimes reaching as high as £80 ; whilst a
draught horse or mare of corresponding quality and
capabilities can be purchased for from £30 to £40.

The engraving at the head of this chapter represents a
brown mule which obtained a prize at the (xrand Concours
Mulassier, held at Niort, in the Deux Sevres. She was
the property of M. Auguste Disleau, of Sainte-Ouenne, and
stood just 16 hands at four years old.

The second engraving is a copy of a photograph
taken at the Bnth and West of England Show, Croydon,
of Brunette, an imported Poitou mule l().l, belonging to

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THE POITOU MULE. 89

Mr. C. L. Sutherland. She may be regarded as a typical
specimen of a first-class draught mule in working condition,
and won the following prizes :

First prize Bath and West of England, Croydon, 1875.

First prize Eoyal Agricultural Society, Taunton, 1875.

Second prize Crystal Palace, 1875.

Second prize Alexandra Palace, 1875.

First prize Dairy Show, London, 1877.

Third prize Royal Agricultural Society, Kilburu, 1879.

First prize Alexandra Park, 1881.

When speaking of the large limbs and feet of mules
of the Poitou race, it must not be understood to
signify that they are as large as those of a cart horse of
corresponding height, but as speaking comparatively, and
looking at the limbs and feet of the generality of mules.
A mule can never be a horse, and it is only by the careful
selection of asses as sires, with points approximating as
nearly as possible to those we look for in a horse, that we
can expect to breed symmetrical mules. It is quite true
that almost any mare, coupled with any ass, will produce
an average mule ; but if we wish to breed first-rate animals
we must take special care in selecting* sires and dams. The
grey French cart mares from which the Poitou mules are
bred are very middling animals when compared with our
Shire and Clydesdale breeds ; yet they give good produce
when coupled with the Poitou ass. If good Poitou
asses were selected and used on our English cart mares,
there can be no doubt we should produce mules far
surpassing any yet bred in Poitou. The Americans breed
mules from their best cart mares, and find it pays them
better to do so than to breed horse colts. They mostly use,
however, for the purpose the tall Spanish ass, originally
brought from Catalonia, leggy, light in the barrel, and

90 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

generally with small limbs and feet. The Maltese ass,
which is also occasionally used, may be described as an
" improved Spanish," and is certainly a better animal for
the purpose than the normal Spanish ass. If they were to
use the Poitou instead of the Spanish or Maltese ass, they
would obtain verv diifeient results.

Americans have expressed astonishment at the size of
the limbs and feet of the mules in Poitou, and admitted
that this was a deficiency in the limbs and feet of the
American mule which required correcting.

The late M. Eugene Ayraulr, the most intelligent veteri-
nary surgeon at JSiort, author of "^^De I'Industrie Mulassiere,"
computed that in Poitou 50,000 mares are employed in the
mule-producing business, of which number 38,000 are mated
with the ass, and the remainder with the horse ; in fact,
mules and mule-breeding are about the only thing's talked
of in agricultural Poitou. Every farmer, every peasant,
every petty proprietor breeds a mule or two, which he knows
he is quite certain of selling at a remunerative price at any
of the numerous fairs, where the relative value of mules and
horses may be pretty nearly arrived at from the fact that,
while a charge of twenty centimes is, as a general rule,
made for the right to take a horse for sale on to the Place,
or wherever the fair may be held, a charge of thirty
centimes is made for a mule.

A great many of the so-called Spanish mules seen in the
neighbourhood of the Pyrenees and in the North of Spain
are in reality Poitou mules, the Spaniards always attend-
ing the Poitou fairs in large numbers for the purpose of
buying the mules having the most distinction. The mule
merchants from the South of Prance also buy thousands
of mules, which they take with them to Marseilles, Mont-
pellier, Toulouse, &c., where the animals bring high prices.

THE POITOU MULE. 91

The Americans also attend tlie fairs, and buy many mules,
which they export from Nantes and St. Nazaire. It may
be asked_, why don't the Americans buy the asses too ?
For the reason that the male asses are not brought to the
fairs. They are a great deal too valuable to be exposed
for public sale, and are disposed of privately, and then only
with the greatest possible form and ceremony.

The principal mule fairs are held in the winter (in
January and February), the mules having been for some
two or three months previously released from work and got
as fat as possible for sale. In very many cases, however,
the country has been previously scoured by the Spaniards
and marchands du Midi, who readily buy all the good
animals they can lay their hands on. The best mules are
generally to be procured at these winter fairs. In the
summer fairs, which are held only very occasionally, it is
as hard to find one really good mule as it is to find a
hundred in the winter ; but the transport is of course
much easier in summer than in winter.

As a general rule, the mules in Poitou are by no means
well " done ; '^ on the contrar}^, they are poorly fed, and
hardh' worked. They are broken at two years old and
worked till they are three or four, Avhen they are fed
up and sold. If they were fed in proportion to the work
got out of them, or if they were not quite so hardly worked,
they would grow into much finer animals than they do.
It is amusing to see the manner in which these mules
are broken. At two years old their education com-
mences, and it is no uncommon sight to see eight young-
mules harnessed to a cart, one in front of the other (with
an old horse in the shafts, termed the litiiomer)^ belonging
to eight different proprietors, each one carefully leading
his oAvn animal, alternately caressing and swearing at

92 MULES AND MTJLE BBEEDING.

liim. The mule being naturally nervous and timid
it is necessary to exercise great patience and kind-
ness in breaking liim. It is this nervousness which is so
often mistaken for vice by the ignorant, and which has
given the mule a bad name with those who, not having
studied his nature, have often turned a really tractable
though nervous animal into a dangerous vicious brute by
beating and ill-using him. Patience and kindness, com-
bined with firmness and a knowledge of the animar.s
nature, will almost always succeed where brutality has been
exercised in vain, and long and careful observation proves
that the Poitou ass, coupled with English cart mares,
would give us mules which, with our system of feeding
and management, would furnish the farmer, the brewer,
the coal merchant, the miller, the timber merchant, the
owner of barges (mules are far better than horses lor
towing), &c., with the most economical form of horse
labour possible.

It is well known to agriculturists that, however com-
paratively light and easy in the draught a reaping
machine may be, no one pair of horses can go on working
it all day without change. A horse sickens of always
having his shoulders home in the collar, and prefers work
of more give-and-take character. Not so the mule. He
will go plodding on all day and every day, unceasingly,
and heavy draught mules, with the necessary weight,
are very valuable for this purpose — a point worthy of
consideration and trial by enterprising agriculturists and
machine makers.

The saving that would be effected if mules were more
generally used in our army transport service instead of
horses it is hardly necessary to point out. The use of
mules for transport and for ambulance waggons could not

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THE POITOU MULE. 9B

fail to be of advantage to the State. It is true that our men
would have to be instructed in the treatment and manage-
ment of them at first ; but we have plenty of men in the
service who have been used to mules at Gibraltar, the Cape^
India, &c., who would soon impart their experience to their
comrades.

The large, heavy sixteen hands draught mule bred in
Poitou, such as is suitable for agricultural purposes and
heavv road work, is not the only kind of mule to be found
at the fairs. Mules are offered for sale of all sizes_, from
thirteen to sixteen hands, suitable for all purposes, whether
for carriage work (for which purpose the Spaniards buy
the best- bred and finest in the limb), or for heaA^y farm or
road work, or for burden, or for army purposes.

A draught mule, bred by Mr. A. J. Scott, of Rotherfield
Park, Alton, Hants, from an English cart mare by an
Andalusiau jack, is shown in the engraving. She is now in
the possession of Mr. Sutherland. She is a powerful beast,
a quiet good worker, and exceptionally well formed in the
hind quarters.

The mule is little appreciated in England, because it
is rarely seen here in perfection. By the term mule is
generally signified an under-sized, chance-begotten animal,
of perhaps thirteen hands or so ; and it is not uncommonly
supposed that this is the kind of animal it is at the present
time sought to introduce into England to do the work of a
draught horse ! Any kind of mule can be bred to order,
by a judicious selection of sire and dam, whether it is to be
a light trotting mule, fit to run between the shafts of a
sulky, or a heavy draught mule, that at a dead pull will
beat any horse that ever was foaled. You can get to the
bottom of a draught horse by putting a weight behind him
that he cannot possibly start. vSuch a horse, in nine cases

94 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

out of ten^ will never try his utmost again ; and exactly
the same result occurs in riding a horse to a standstill with
hounds. Not so, however, with the mule. You may load
him as much as you like, whether on his own back or on
wheels, and, if properly managed, he will always go down
on his very knees and do his utmost ; and, if unable to
move his load to-day, will try just as hard to-morrow.

Unnecessary brutality is often brought into play in
breaking and using mules. There is no necessity for any-
thing of the kind. There is a certain amount of firmness,
decision, and patience required, but no brutality, which only
engenders vice, which will show itself in an old mule that
has been habitually ill-treated. The animaVs nature should
be studied. He is affectionate and quick in perception, but
nervous and afraid of strangers. This is the first thing to
recollect in dealing with mules. Make friends with him,
speak to him kindly whenever you approach him, feed him
a little every day, and in a week you may do what you like
with him. Mules, so nervous from having been ill-treated
that it is not safe for anyone ignorant of their nature to
go near them, by kind and at the same time firm treatment,
as a rule, become perfectly quiet and tractable.

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CHAPTEE XIT.

THE POITOU ASS AS A SIRE OF MULES.

The breeding of mules is one of the most curious and
interesting, as well as most lucrative, local occupations of
France. It is so purely local that perhaps not more than
one out of every six Frenchmen is even aware of its
existence, or at all events of the magnitude of the trans-
actions connected with it. Poitou is a part of France
little frequented by tourists, French or English, and
consequently little is known of its productions. During-
the time the winter fairs are being held the country is
overrun by dealers — French, Spanish, and Italian, &c.,
who attend the fairs, and buy strings of mules to take
home to their respective countries.

The Poitou ass is supposed to have been originally
of Spanish extraction. He differs, however, very con-
siderably in outward appearance from his Spanish pro-
genitor— a difference brought about chiefly by selection
and careful breeding. His head and ears are enormous,
and the larger they are the more valuable is the animal
considered by the breeders. His ears are often so enor-
mous that he is unable to carry them in an upright
position. They are then carried horizontally, like those
of an oar-lopped rabbit, giving the animal a most extra-
ordinary appearance when viewed from the front. The

90 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

interior of the ears, from the tip to the point of insertion
in the head, is well furnished with silky ringlets, termed
cadeneftes — a great sign of purity of breed. His lips are
curiously pendulous, the lower lip especially. He often
carries a good long mane and forelock. His neck, while
neither long nor short, is strong, thick, and broad. As in
the asinine race generally, there is a want of withers, and
the back is very straight. His shoulders are tolerable,
inclined to be upright rather than the reverse ; his chest is
broad, and his limbs are simply enormous. It is in the
matter of limbs and feet that the Poitou ass differs
essentially from other breeds, and it is these points that
the mule breeder has chiefly to regard in selecting a
haudet. His forearm, while large, invariably exhibits a
want of muscular development, owing to these animals —
the males at least — never being worked or even exercised.
His knees are very large, and he should " tape '' well
below the knee. Many Poitou jacks measure 9 inches below
the knee, after allowing for hair, of Avhich there is abund-
ance. Eight and a half inches, however, may be con-
sidered as good measurement, the bone being usually
good and flat. His pasterns are short, and his feet
larger and much less contracted at the heels than those
of other breeds of asses ; while the feet and posterior
part of the fetlock, immediately below what are known to
veterinarians as the sesamoid bones, should be well covered
with abundance of long silky hair, when the animal is said
to be hien talonne. His tail is short, and usually furnished
with long hair at the extremity only. His quarters are
generally thin and spare, and this is a point in which he
requires improvement. His body is long, and, if his ribs
are not as well sprung as those of a horse, he mostly
girths well. Contrary to our ideas on the subject of cart-

THE POITOU ASS. 97

horse breeding at least, the longer the body the better
mules he is thought to produce. The bray of the Poitou
ass is peculiarly loud and sonorous, totally different from
that of the Spanish or Maltese breeds. The height of the
Poitou ass varies from 13^ to 15 hands, and the colour is
always black or dark brown. Greys are sometimes pro-
duced, but they are always rejected for breeding purposes.
Height in the ass is not nearly so much looked for by
breeders as the other properties of head, ears, limbs,
feet, and barrel. Height is got from the dam, the mule-
producing mares generally standing from 15 to 16 hands,
and sometimes higher.

Perhaps the most extraordinary part of the Poitou jack is
the coat, with which he is blessed or cursed, as the case
may be. From the day he is born to the day of his death
no brush or comb is ever allowed to be used on him ; and,
as from the unnatural condition in which he is kept, he is
prevented in a great measure from shedding his coat, the
functions of the skin become suspended, and the animal
gradually assumes year after year an accumulation of coats
all matted together with stable filth, till at length they
almost trail on the ground ! When he has assumed this
extraordinary and bear-like appearance, he is pointed
to with no little pride by his owner, and is termed
Bouraillonx or sometimes Guenilloux. Such is ignorance
and 23i*ejudice ! Suffice it to say that this state of
things almost invariably produces cutaneous affections
of the Avorst description. This power to retain in a great
measure coat after coat is not possessed (happily for them)
in an equal degree by all Poitou asses. It appears to be a
peculiarity of a small minority only, and is considered by
M. Ayrault to be of no practical utility whatever. In fact,
he looks upon the variety Bourailloux as quite an inferior

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THE POITOU ASS. 99

one_, and liable to be light-limbed and small-footed.
Still the object of each proprietor is always to have asses
with as much unkempt coat as possible, be they Bourail-
Joux or otherwise.

The illustration on the opposite page represents a short-
coated Poitou jack, or one that, in the eyes of the breeder,
has had the misfortune to lose his coat at an early age.
As such he is much better adapted for breeding mules for
hot climates.

The point in the Poitou ass to which exception will be
taken is the great size of the head and the length of the
ears. In a horse we most of us look at his head first; and
a small, blood-like head, well set on, makes up for a multi-
tude of sins. Now, the Poitou jackass is kept mainly for
breeding heavy draught mules ; and it has long been an
axiom among the breeders that these mules cannot be
produced with the necessary size and weight without
correspondingly large heads and ears, and that these can
only be communicated through the medium of jackasses
already blessed with an excess of these appendages. Con-
sequently, it is the aim and object of the breeders to
produce asses with the largest heads and ears possible.

Like the Arabs with their mares, the Poitou breeders
manifest considerable reluctance at parting- with their
asses, which is not to be wondered at considering the larg-e
sums of money which this mule breedino- and sellino- brink's
them in. There is also not a little difficulty in rearing
and bringing the asses to maturity, owing to the very false
principles on which the breeders and their forefathers have
proceeded for centuries.

The breeding of the asses is quite a distinct branch of
the industry from that of the mules, and is almost entirely
confined to the neighbourhood of Melle and Chef-Boutonue,

H 2

100 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

although in most of the ateliers (the name given to the
establishments where the jackasses are kept) one or two
female asses for breeding purposes are generally to be found.

The female ass is kept entirely for breeding asses.
What is known in England, and commonly in Ireland, as
a mute, jennet, or hinny (the sire in this case being a
horse or pony, and the dam a donkey), is never, or very
rarely, seen in Poitou. An animal bred in this way is
termed hardot, and is considered of little value in
comparison with a mule proper, bred from a male ass
and female horse.

In Poitou the same points are looked for in the female as
in the male ass, viz., girth, large head and ears, plenty of
bone in the legs, open feet and rough coats. The females are
not so high as the males as a rule, and may be said to vary
from 13 to 14 hands. It is scarcely necessary to mention
that, looking at the relative value of male and female asses,
it is the great anxiety of the breeder that his female
asses shall produce male offspring. With this view, the
wretched jennies are kept in as low condition as possible,
under the idea that such a condition favours the pro-
duction of male offspring. Indeed, the poor wretches are
mostly mere skin and bone, and are supplied with nothing
but hay and straw in just sufficient quantity to keep them
from absolute starvation. This is another of the Poitou
practices which requires sweeping away. The great
wonder is that, looking at the extraordinary prejudices
which prevail in Poitou, detrimental alike to animal
health and animal life, the breeders yet contrive to bring
into the market such fine mules as are to be seen in
hundreds at the winter fairs. I use the word "mules'^
advisedly, as be it recollected that the breeding of the
asses is ouly to be regarded as a means to an end^ which

THE POITOU ASS. 101

end is tlie production of mules for the market. The
breeders will sell their mules readily enough, but think
twice before selling their asses.

The engraving of a yearling Poitou jack is from a drawing,
admirably executed by the late Mr. T. W. Wood, of a young
Poitevin haudet. He stood 46in., and ultimately reached
14 hands. He was very gentle and tractable in temper.

Long before the expected time of parturition the farmer
or his son always sleeps in the stable, so as not to be taken
by surprise, and the greatest excitement prevails through-
out the whole estabhshment. If the young animal proves
to be a female the excitement subsides quickly enough, but
if a male (technically termed fedon) makes his appearance,
great rejoicing is the consequence, and for a whole month
the proprietor scarcely leaves his treasure either by night
or day. But here again prejudice and ignorance step in.
The young animal is deprived of the first milk, or what is
known as the colostrum, of its mother. The peculiarly laxa-
tive effect of this milk has been well ascertained, but the
Poitou peasant chooses to designate it as poison ; and the
youug animals are not allowed to partake of what has been
specially designed by Nature for their well-being, and the
consequence is that in the first month ol their existence
the whole system becomes thoroughly deranged, and a
great many of them are lost. After the first month is
over the critical time has passed, and there is then little
difficulty attending their rearing. Weaning takes place
at eight or nine months. Those that the breeder does not
require are readily bought by the dealers who scour the
country, and who resell them to the keepers of ateliers
in various parts of the province. In the case of one
breeder selling a young haudet, or male ass, to another,
or in the case of change of ownership of an adult

102 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

haudet, great form and ceremony are attached to the
transaction.

The female asses are sometimes_, though rarely, employed
in the agricultural labours of the farm. As a general rule,
they are kept solely for breeding purposes, as there is an
idea in Poitou that pregnant animals should not be worked.
Possibly the breeders have at some time discovered to
their cost that starvation, pregnancy, and hard work taken
in combination are disposed to have a deleterious effect
upon the animal system generally.

The number of ateliers, or mule-breeding establishments,
in Poitou amounts to nearly two hundred^ the majority
being in the department of the Deux- Sevres. These estab-
lishments are tenanted by many hundred male asses, female
asses, and entire draught horses, the latter called etaloii.s
mulassierSy and used for keeping up the mule-breeding
race of horses and mares. The mares from which the
mules are bred belong to farmers and peasants in the
neighbourhood, and are brought to the ateliers when
necessary. Each atelier contains from three to eight male
asses, one or two females, and two entire draught horses,
one of which is technically called a houte-en-train.

The following are the measurements of a Poitou jenny
ass brought over to Eugland for breeding purposes by
Mr. C. L. Sutherland:

Height, 14 hands ^in. Below hock, lOin.

Forearm, 19in. Greatest girth, 77in.

Knee, 13in. Girth behind shoulder, 66in.

Below knee, 8 Jin. Length of head, 28in.

Foot, 18m. Length of ear, 15in.

Hock, 16in. Ears, tip to tip across, 34in.

The engraving of a Poitou female is from the photograph
of a jenny of fourteen hands, which obtained the first prize

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THE POITOU ASS. 103

and silver medal at the Grand Concours Mulassier held at
Niort.

The following are the measurements of a Poitou jack
imported by the late Mr. Ed. Pease for the purpose of
breeding* draught mules ; they may be regarded as those
of a fair specimen of the Poitou ass :

Height, 14 hands lin.
Forearm, 19|in,
Knee, 15in.
Below knee, 8|in.
Hock, 17 Un.
Below hock, 12 in.

Greatest girth, 77in.

Girth behind shoulder, 66in.

Length of head, 25in.

Length of ear, 15in.

Ears, tip to tip across, 32in.

The kind of mare from which the large draught mules
are bred is known as la jument Poitevine mulassiere.
From official statistics, jDublished some years ago, it
appears that there Avere at that time 50,000 mares employed
for mule breeding in Poitou, of which number 38,000 were
devoted to producing mules, and the remaining 1 2,000 used
for keeping up the breed of horses called race chevaline
mulassiere. The above number is probably exceeded in
the present day, in cou sequence of the lucrative nature of
the business, the mules costing but little to breed and
rear, and realising high prices when brought to the fnirs to
be sold.

It may be as well to mention that from time to time the
French Government has tried to discourage the breeding
of mules; but, in spite of all efforts to the contrary, the
business has increased year by year; mules have become
dearer and dearer, they have been more and more sought
after by foreigners from almost all parts of the world, and
more money has consequently been brought into the country.
Years ago the sum annually realised by the sale of Poitou
mules was estimated by M. Ayrault at something like

104 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

eleven millions of francs^ equal to 440,000/.^ and the average
price, as then taken, was decidedly low in comparison with
tlie prices brought by the mules in the present day.
Altogether, mule breeding may be considered one of the
most remunerative industries of France, although little is
known of it outside its own immediate district.

The following engraving represents a prize Poitou
cart mare and mule foal, the latter between two and three
months old. The mare may be taken as a fair specimen of the
race from which the mules are mostly bred. About sixteen
hands high, she possesses the chief qualifications looked
for by the French breeders, who make a great point of
plenty of hair about the pasterns and feet — a matter of
quite minor importance.

For many years the Poitou race of horses and mares was
alone supposed to possess the qualifications for producing
fine mules. The mares were said to be specially adapted
for breeding with the ass ; in other words, they were
alone considered to be, according to Jacques Bujault,
intevieurement niulassieres. Naturally it was to the
interest of the Poitou breeders that this fallacy should
be maintained as long as possible, and for many years
it was kept up most successfully. In process of time,
however, means of communication improved, and mares
were introduced from Normandy and Brittany. Of late
years some of the more spirited breeders have imported
draught entire horses from England and Belgium, with the
view of improving the breed of horses. At first the old
breeders were of opinion that by these means the mule-
breeding business would be ruined ; but experience has
proved, as it naturally would prove, that finer mules than
ever are produced, owing to the judicious steps taken in the
matter. The Americans have perhaps more than any other

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THE POITOU ASS. 105

nation disproved the idea of the Poitou mare being solely
adapted for breeding mules ; witness the magnificent
animals to be seen in nearly all the States, but notably in
Kentucky, Missouri, and also in New Orleans.

Each farm in Poitou includes from three to eight mule-
breeding mares, according to the means of the proprietor.
These animals are very rarely used in the labours of the
farm, which are performed by oxen and young mules. The
mares are generally kept solely for breeding purposes
— for breeding mules, if possible ; failing that, for
keeping up the breed of horses. A mare is commonly
a mother before she is three years old. If the two-year-
old filly happens to prove in foal, she is insujQBciently
nourished on straw, chaff, and a little hay perhaps,
under the idea that low condition is desirable during
the period of gestation, and that starvation conduces
to successful parturition ; utterly disregarding the patent
and common sense fact that at such times the mare
requires extra nutriment for the support of herself and for
the proper development of the foetus. Then, too, at the
birth of the foal, be it mule or horse, the young animal, is
deprived of the first milk or colostrum of its mother — a
proceeding which in very many cases leads to the speedy
death of the foal, in consequence of a peculiar disease
attacking the kidneys, and terminating fatally, unless
skilled professional assistance is at once obtained. Such
is prejudice and custom ! Happily for the peasant's
own benefit, these crude notions have been disproved
owing to the exertions of MM. Ayrault, Levrier, and other
skilful and influential veterinarians in Poitou.

The young mule figured would grow into a fine animal for
draught purposes, and would probably make sixteen hands
or more. Young mules may ])e seen that promise better.

106 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

so far as bone in tlie leg, large feet, and weight of barrel
are concerned, but the present animal, like her dam, may
be taken as a fair specimen of the race. Her exact future
it would be difficult to foretell ; but one thing is quite
certain, and that is that, like all her fellows, she will not
end her days in Poitou. She will probably be sold so soon
as she is weaned to some peasant in a part of Poitou where
mules are not much bred, but only reared as yearlings ;
possibly again, at two years old, to another peasant, in a
district where only two-year-old mules are reared ; and
certainly again, at three, four, or five, she will be finally
sold to one of the numerous mule merchants from the
South of France, Spain, or Italy. The Spaniards buy
the light-trotting mules with style and good action to run
in their carriages ; and the lyiarcliands du Midi, buy the
heavy draught mules. An experienced breeder on the
birth of a mule foal can, and often does, foretell its future
destination to an absolute certainty, according to its make
and shape, i.e., whether it will go to Spain or Le Midi.

GHAPTEPv XV.
THE AMERICAN MULE.

The history of tlie mule in the United States is one which
could advantageously be studied by the inhabitants of this
country. At the latter part of the last century the mule
was as little appreciated in America as it is in England
at the present time. But little trouble, forethought or
intelligence was brought to bear on the breeding of this
useful animal, and the result was that but poor specimens
were produced. But labour at that time was of such
high value in the sparsely populated country, that the
advantages of the mule as a l)east of draught as well as
burden were soon perceived, and great care was taken in
breeding the mule from a better class of jack, and from
superior well-bred mares.

It is remarkable that one of the first persons to advocate
tlie employment of mules in the United States was General
Washington. By the kindness of Sir Walter Gilbey, we
are enabled to reproduce an advertisement printed by
Washington in a Philadelphia paper for 1786, before his
election to the presidency. It appears that the King of
Spain presented him with a large Spanish jack, which by
W^ashington was named Eoyal Gift. His advertisement
reads as follows :

" Royal Gift. — A Jack Ass of the first race in the kingdom
of Sjjain will cover mares and jennies (the asses) at Mount
Vernon the ensuing spring. The first for ten, the latter for

108 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

tit'teen pounds the season. K-oyal Gift is four years old, is
between 14 l-half and 15 hands high, and will grow, it is
said, till he is twenty or twenty-five years of age. He is very
bony and stout made, of a dark colour, with light belly and
legs. The advantages, which are many, to be derived from the
propagation of asses from this animal (the first of the kind
that ever was in North America), and the usefulness of mules
bred from a Jack of his size, either for the road or team, are
well known to those who are acquainted with this mongrel race.
For the information of those who are not, it may be enough to
add, that their great strength, longevity, hardiness, and chea2>
support, give them a preference of horses that is scarcely to be
imagined. As the Jack is young, and the General has many
mares of his own to put to him, a limited number only will be
received from others, and these entered in the order they are
offered. Letters directed to the subscriber, by the j)ost or
otherwise, under cover to the General, will be entered on the
day they are received, till the number is comjjleted, of which
the writers shall be informed, to prevent trouble or expense to

^^^^^^' John Fairfax, Overseer."

" February 23, 1786."

This advertisement shows that the General was fully
aware of the advantages derived from the use of mules
and of the character of the jack from which they should
be bred. Washington continued the use of mules during
his life^ and amongst the stock mentioned in his will,
signed in 1799, appeared two covering jacks and three
young ones, ten she asses, forty-two working mules, and
fifteen younger ones.

It is interesting, however, to know that Washington
appreciated thoroughly all the qualities which render mules
so valuable as agricultural animals, qualities which have
rendered them appreciated in almost all civilised countries,
except Great Britain. The General dilates on the stout

THE AMERICAN MULE. 109

bones of Royal Gift, wliicli are points that are looked at
by all experienced mule breeders ; and he descants,
rightly enough, on the "great strength of mules, on
their longevity, hardiness, and cheap support, which
gives them a preference of horses that is scarcely to be
imagined/'

At the present time numbers of Spanish and other
Jacks are annually imported into the United States for
the purpose of mule breeding, as was made evident by
an account of the escape of nearly one hundred Spanish
Jacks recently brought to the port of Liverpool from Spain
for the purpose of being exported to America. The
Liverpool Courier of Jan. 1 8, 1 894, informs us that they
were finely made, powerful looking animals. They were
brought to Liverpool to be trans-shipped to America
in one of the White Star steamers. Pending the trans-
shipment they escaped from their quarters during the
night, and in the morning it was found that nearly the
whole of them were missing, but they were apprehended
by the police in Prescot-street, and placed in safety.
This occurrence shows the extreme care that the Ameri-
cans take in the breeding of their mules for farm and city
work. At the present time, in the States a large amount
of the agricultural labour is performed by these animals.
To so great an extent is this the case, that in one of the
illustrated posters showing the utilization of a reaping
machine, no less than sixteen machines are delineated
cutting a wheat field of some thousand acres, the whole
of the machines being drawn by mules.

The draught mule of America is somewhat lighter than
those that have already been described as being bred in
France from the Poitou jacks. This depends on the facts
that lighter jacks are used in breeding them, and that they

110 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

ar-e not bred from mares as heavy as those that are
employed in France. Small jacks are not regarded in
America as desirable, although mere size is not considered
as a criterion of the intrinsic value for breeding purposes,
greater reliance being placed on pedigree and breed.
The mule is so important an animal in the States, and is
bred there so carefully, that it is desirable to record the
system which is adopted in its production by the best
breeders. An account published by Mr. Killgore, of
Plattsburg, is so instructive that it is most advantageous
to reproduce the following details of mule breeding
from it : —

*' In the province of Catalonia, in old Spain, there exists a race
of asses, bred with great care for many centuries, having been
introduced into that country by the Moors at the time of their
conquest of that kingdom. They are black in colour, with white
or mealy muzzles, and whitish or greyish bellies, varying but
little in form, but greatly in size, running from fourteen
to sixteen and a half hands high. They are remarkable
for their high carriage, fine hair, great muscular develop-
ment, and superior action, in strong contrast with the common
scrub donkey of the States.

" Before the late civil war these jacks were imported into
Charleston, South Carohna, and were thence distributed
throughout ihv mule-growing region of the United States. They
made their mark wherever tested, showing as much improvement
in mules as in any other department of live stock.

" They developed one very marked peculiarity, and that was
the uniform, strong colour, good shape, fine, thrifty growing, and
feeding qualities and docile temper of the mules produced from
every quality and colour of dam ; and, notwithstanding their
variation in size from fourteen to sixteen hands high, any given
mare would produce as large and fine fiiiished and valuable a
mule from the fourteen hand jack as from the sixteen hand one,
thus proving the uniformity of their breeding, and showing the

THE AMERICAN MULE. HI

variation in size of their mules to be owing to the influence of
the dam. A finely formed, high carried, good boned Catalonian
jack, fourteen and a half hands high, is of more value for
breeding mules than a sixteen and a half hand Kentucky jack.
Prior to the introduction of the Catalonian blood into Kentucky,
the jacks in use were mere donkeys, selected for their size, and
perfectly devoid of quality, and the mule of that day had neither
size, action, nor carriage, except where he chanced to be bred
from a blood mare, hence blood mares were sought for as mule
breeders. Now when the breeder has secured a blood jack, cold
blooded mares are found to produce fine, gay, active, high priced
mules ; yet, even now, the more blood in the dam, the more
valuable the mule. The finest mule I ever saw was by a pure
Catalan jack, fourteen hands, and from a dam fifteen hands
high, bred from an imported Yorkshire sire.

" The first pure-blooded Catalan jack ever brought to Ken-
tucky was in 1832 by the Hon. Henry Clay. His sire and dam
Lad been imported from Spain into Maryland, where Mam-
moth Warrior was foaled. Warrior, as he w^as called, was fifteen
hands high. Kentucky at that time had no jennies (female
donkeys), but mongrels, mostly a light shade of blue, with grey,
buff, and grizzly hair, nearly as stiff as hog bristles, generally
with a coloured stripe across the shoulders and down the back,
ewe necked, flat in the rib, low carriage, and heavy headed,
entirely destitute of any good quality except hardihood and
ability to get a living where any other animal save a goat would
have starved to death. With such jennies began the first effort
to improve the race in Kentucky, and to Warrior they flocked
in droves. He seemed to cross advantageously with them, just
as the Cashmere goat crosses on the common hairy goat. His
progeny seemed rapidly to lose the leading traits of their dams,
and to inherit in a remarkable degree the colour and outward
characteristics of their sire. Four years thereafter, Dr. Davis, of
South Carolina, imported direct from Spain the second pure jack,
Mammoth by name, sixteen hands high, and of great weight to
his height. To Mammoth was mated theyoung Warrior jennies,
then just maturing, thus making the second cross of pure blood,

112 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

and upon these two crosses rest to-day the breedmg of the race
of jacks known throughout the United States as the Kentucky
jack. It will thus readily be seen that Kentucky owes her
position and character as a mule and jack-breeding State to this
direct infusion of Catalan blood. In fact, I risk nothing when
I attest that no jack in America has acquired celebrity as a
mule breeder unless more or less partaking of Catalan blood, and
that there is not one large, smooth, active mule on this continent
not indebted to the same infusion of this potent and powerful
T)lood.

" Sixteen hand specimens are not uncommon among the
descendants of Mammoth Warrior and Mammoth, nearly all
Kentucky jacks, uniting the blood of both, with many others
running down to fourteen, fourteen and a half, and fifteen
hands high, but they are all mongrels, being almost universally
bred from jennies devoid of any breeding ; this accounts for the
fact that an imported Catalan jack fourteen and a half hands
high is fully equal as a mule l»reeder to the sixteen hand
native.

" The writer has seen the test fairly made time and again. He
once owned a cold-blooded, open, large breeding mare, sixteen
hands high. He bred her repeatedly to a Catalan jack, fourteen
hands high, j^roducing strictly first-class mules, and he afterwards,
for the sake of the experiment, bred her to Mammoth, the
imported jack alluded to, and bred a mule every way inferior
to her general breeding from the smaller jack. The union
of jack and mare sixteen hands ])roduced a mule of even greater
height than either ; but leggy, light bodied, and light chested,
and every way undesirable.

'* Tall jacks and tall mares will never produce mules the equal
of tall mares and heavy jacks from fourteen and a half to fifteen
hands high. In fact, sixteen hand jacks almost invariably lack
shaj^e, action, muscle, and are generally weak constitutioned, and
are not calculated to breed really serviceable mules.

" The tendency has been to breed for mere height, which is a
great blunder, and should be abandoned, and more attention
paid to weight, action, high quality, and purity of blood."

THE AMERICAN MULE. 113

One of tlie most instructive papers on tlie utilisation and
breeding of mules in America was published in tlie Report
of the Commissioners of Agriculture, that was presented to
the House of Representatives, in 1863. It was written by
Mr. J. T. Warder, of Springfield, Ohio, himself a large
breeder of mules. From this valuable Report the following
extracts are taken :

" The mule is everywhere hardier than the horse, subject to
fewer diseases, more patient, better adapted to travelHng on
rugged and trackless surfaces, less fastidious as to its food, and
much less expensive in feeding, more muscular in proportion to its
weight, and usually hving and working to about double the age.

" In our own country the prejudice that once existed against
them is rapidly yielding, and we find them used in the street
cars in some of our cities, and occasionally observe them
attached to elegant private carriages. In many parts of the
country they are used for heavy draught ; for this purpose they
have long been employed in some of the iron regions, which are
often hilly, and even mountainous, and traversed with very bad
roads — rough, rocky, and muddy — where these animals are
found to be better adapted to the circumstances than horses.
In some of the mountainous portions of Pennsylvania they are
used in the log- waggons, and it is truly marvellous to see them
tugging at their loads, drawing the wains around huge rocks,
logs, and stumps, and through rapid torrents, and among
thickets of tangled underbrush that would appal a team of
horses, and where these latter animals would be entirely worth-
less. It is true the teams employed in such situations are of
superior quahty, and are much larger and heavier than < ommon
mules ; but their powers of endurance and their determined
pluck and perseverance in overcoming difficulties make them
invaluable in this kind of service. Then, again, their great
intelligence adds to their value in the wild roads they have ta
traverse, and enables their driver to manage them without a
line, but simply by the word of command.

114 MULES AND MULE BBEEDING.

" In tlie army service mules have been very extensively
employed, and increasingly so within a few years. The teams
consist of four and six animals, which are found to draw as
much as horses, to be more easily maintained, and to endure
more hardships.

" In England, where the donkeys are the property of the poor,
and are considered of little value, and where the poorer mares
are used for crossing, the resulting mule is an inferior animal,
and is employed in very subordinate situations.

** In the mule we have the size and activity of the horse,
combined with the form and hardihood of the ass, while he
surpasses both his parents in sure-footedness and in longevity,
and has more endurance and greater power of recuperation from
fatigue and exhaustion when excessively worked. Well-bred
mules are as spirited, and equally active, or even quicker than
horses, if perfectly broken. They will walk fast, and in the
draught they pull even more steadily. Their intelligence is so
great that they may be trained very readily either to the line or
to the word, and many splendid, large teams are driven, even
over rough ground where there is scarcely any road, perfectly
guided by the voice of the teamster.

" In the production of mules for Grovernment use the jack
should be from 14 to 15 hands high, with a good length of
body, depth of chest, and with a round barrel, as mdications of
a good constitution. He should have heavy, flat-boned limbs, a
long, thin face, with fine, thin under jaw-bones. His ears should
be carried upright, and they must not be too thick. The animal
should have a sprightly temper and appearance, as these
qualities will almost always be transmitted to his progeny.

" The jack must be fed with a view to the maintenance of
the greatest physical vigour, so as to produce an even lot of
colts, and to this end he should rarely be allowed to serve more
than fifty mares during the season of three months. He should
be provided with such food as will give him strength without
inducing feverishness. Natural exercise, with the freedom of a
grass lot, should always be allowed, when practicable. Animals
designed for crossing with mares should be kept from any

THE AMERICAN MULE. 115

intercourse witli their own kind, as tliey often become entirely
useless for cross-breeding when allowed contact with their own
species.

" Whether it arise from a greatly -increased demand for these
beasts in our country, which is now swollen by the enlarged
wants of the army and its immense transportation, or whether
it has come from a higher appreciation of the mule, it is certain
that the number produced at the present time is vastly greater
than at any former period of our history. Some shrewd
agriculturist may have made the discovery that it costs less to
breed and raise a mule to a suitable size than a horse ; that less
time is required to prepare a lot of mules than a lot of colts for
the market ; that young mules may be sold readily at any
period, and in any amount ; and more than this, that they
uniformly command a higher price than a drove of horse colts of
similar relative quahty and value. Moreover, it may have
become apparent that mules are subject to fewer diseases, that
they are less liable to serious accidents, and that they are
altogether more certain of producing satisfactory results from
their production than horses. All of which may be set down as
well-established axioms. The fact remains (whether explained
or not is immaterial) that the mules of the United States have
greatly increased in numbers.

" The census tables show that the number of mules produced
has increased in a greater ratio than those of any other kind of
farm stock, and that from 1850 to 1860 the total number of
these animals had more than doubled."

The most complete as well as the most recent article on
the mule, as utilised in the United States^ has been
published in the last volume of the Annual Reports of the
Bureau of Animal Industry, printed by order of the Senate.
This account is exceedingly exhaustive, and of a most
practical and useful character, so much so that it has been
thought desirable to reproduce it in extenso, with the
exception of a few references and paragraphs applicable to

I 2

116 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

mule rearers in the States, and the omission of those
points that have previously been discussed in this volume.
The article is entitled as follows :

"THE MULE.
"By J. L. Jones, Columbia, Tennessee.

"There are two kmds or classes of the mule, viz., one the
produce of the male ass or jack and the mare ; and the other,
the offspring of the stallion and female ass. The cross between
the jack and the mare is properly called the mule, while the
other, the produce of the stallion and female ass, is designated
a hinny. The mule is the more valuable animal of the two,
having more size, style, finish, bone, and, in fact, all the
requisites which make that animal so much prized as a useful
burden-bearing animal. The hinny is small in size, and is
wanting in the qualities requisite to a great draught animal.
This hybrid is supposed not to breed, as no instance is known to
us in which a stallion mule has been prolific, although he seems
to be physically perfect, and shows great fondness for the female,
and serves readily. There are instances on record where the
female has produced a foal, but these are rare.*

" The mule partakes of the several characteristics of both its
parents, having the head, ear, foot, and bone of the jack, while
in height and body it follows the mare. It has the voice of
neither, but is between the two, and more nearly resembles the
jack. It possesses the patience, endurance, and sure-footedness
of the jack, and the vigour, strength, and courage of the horse.
It is easily kept, very hardy, and no path is too precipitous or
mountain trail too difficult for one of them with its burden.
The mule enjoys comparative immunity from disease, and lives
to a comparatively great age. The writer knows of a mule in
Middle Tennessee that, when young, was a beautiful dapj^le
gray, but is now thirty years old, and is as white as snow. This

* These are probably examples of induced lactation as described in
Chapter XII.

THE AMERICAN MULE. 117

mule is so faithful aud true, and lias broken so many young
things to work by his side, that he bears the name of
* Counsellor.' The last time he was seen by the writer he was
in a team attached to a reaper, drawing at a rate sufficient to
cut fifteen acres of grain per day.

" At this day mules are used extensively in nearly all parts
of the country where agricultural pursuits are carried on, as well
as in the mining regions, the cotton belt, and all sugar-growing
countries, where they have largely supplanted the horse, and
are prized highly for their gentleness and faithfulness.

" In the United States the principal States in which mules
are raised are as follows, in their order as to numbers foaled in
1889 viz., Missouri, 34,500; Texas, 25,300; Tennessee, 19,500 ;
Kentucky, 18,200; Kansas, 8200; Arkansas, 6600; Illinois,
6400; California, 5000; Indiana, 4400; Mississippi, 4200;
Alabama, 3500 ; North Carolina, 3300 ; Iowa, 2300 ; Nebraska,
2300; Georgia, 2000; Virginia, 2000; Louisiana. 1300;
Oregon, 1300 ; Ohio, 900 ; South Carolina, 700 ; and Pennsyl-
vania, 600. Many other States raised mules, making the
number foaled, in 1889, 157,000.

" Kentucky mules are showy, upheaded, fine-haired animals,
their extra qualities being attributable to the strong, thorough-
bred blood in the greater part of their dams. The same may
be said of Tennessee, where it is thought the climatic influences
produce a little better, smoother, and finer hair, coupled with
early maturity, which qualities are much prized by an expert
buyer.

" The mules in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and some other of
the so-called North-western States, have large bone, foot, body,
and substance, and possess great strength, but they are wanting
in that high style, finish, and fine hair that characterise the
produce of some of the States fui'ther south, and are longer in
maturing. Mule breeding in these States is one of the most
important branches of industry, and is supposed to date back
prior to 1787.

" There is no kind of labour to which a horse can be put for
which a mule may not be made to answer, while Lhere are many

118 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

for which mules are more peculiarly adapted than horses ; and
among the rest, that of mining, where the mule is used, and
many of them need no drivers. They can endiu'e more hard-
ships than the horse, can Kve on less, and do more work on
the same feed than any other beast of burden we use in
America.

" A cotton-planter in the South would feel unwilling to raise
his crop with horses for motive power. The horse and the
labour of the cotton belt could not harmonise, while the negro
is at home with the mule.

" A mule may be worked until completely fagged, when a good
feed and a night's rest will enable it to go ; but it is not so with
a horse.

" The mule being better adapted for carrying burdens, for the
plough, the waggon, building of railroads, and in fact all classes
of heavy labour, let us see how it compares with that noble
animal, the horse, in cost of maintenance.

"From repeated experiments that have come under my
observation in the past twenty-five years, I have found that
three mules, 15 hands high, that were constantly worked,
consumed about as much forage as two ordinary- sized horses
worked in the same way, and while the mules were fat the
horses were only in good working order. Although a mule will
live and work on very low fare, he also responds as quickly as
any animal to good feed and kind treatment. True, it is
charged that the mule is vicious, stubborn, and slow, but an
experience in handling many mules on the farm has failed to
sustain the charge, save in few instances, and in these the
propensities were brought about by bad handling. They are
truer pullers than the horse, and move more quickly under the
load. Their hearing and vision are better than the horse. The
writer has used them in all the different branches of farming,
from the plough to the carriage and buggy, and thinks they are
less liable to become frightened and start suddenly ; and if they
do start, they usually stop before damage is done, while the
horse seldom stops until completely freed. The mule is more
steady while at work than the horse, and is not so liable to

THE AMERICAN MULE. 119

become exhausted, and often becomes so well instructed as to
need neither driver nor lines.

" In the town in which the writer lives, a cotton merchant, who
is also in the grocery trade, owned a large sorrel mule, 16 hands
high, that he worked to a dray to haul goods and cotton to the
depot, half a mile from his business house. This mule often
went the route alone, and was never known to strike anything,
and what was more remarkable, would back up at the proper
place with the load, there being one place to unload groceries
and another for cotton.

" They are also good for light harness, many of them being
very useful buggy animals, travelling a day's journey equal to
some horses. The writer obtained one from a firm of jack
breeders in his vicinity, that was bred by them, as an experi-
ment, being out of a thoroughbred mare by a royally bred jack.
She is 16 hands high, as courageous as most any horse. In
travelling a distance of thirty -two miles, this mule, with two
men and the baggage, made it, as the saying goes, * under a
pull,' in four hours, and when arrived at the journey's end
seemed willing to go on.

" We do not wish to be understood as underrating the horse,
for it is a noble animal, well suited for man's wants, but for
burden-bearing and drudgery is more than equalled by the
patient, faithful, hardy mule.

" THE KIND OF SIRE TO BREED FROM.

*' There are two kinds of jacks — the mule breeding and the
ass breeding jack*, the latter being used chiefly in breeding
jacks for stock purposes. It is only with the mule breeding
jack that we will deal.

" A good mule jack ought to be not less than 15 hands high,
and have all of the weight, head, ear, foot, bone, and length that
can be obtained, coupled with a broad chest, wide hips, and with

* The term jennet is used in the United States to signify a female ass,
and hence the jacks employed in breeding "jack stock" are termed
"jennet jacks." The best jacks are usually selected for this purpose, and
command a service fee of S50 (101.).

120 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

all the style attainable with these qualities. Smaller jacks are
often fine breeders, and produce some of our best mules, and
when bred to the heavier, larger class of mares show good
results, but as ' like produces like,' the larger jacks are pre-
ferable.

" Black, with light points, is the favourite colour for a jack,
but many of our grey, blue, and even white jacks have produced
good mules. In fact, some of the nicest, smoothest, red-sorrel
mules have been the product of these off -coloured jacks ; but
the black jacks get the largest proportion of good- coloured colts
from all coloured mares.

** The breed of the jack is also to be looked into. There are
now so many varieties of jacks in the United States, all of which
have merits, that it will be well to examine and see what jack
has shown the best results. We have the Catalonian, the
Andalusian, the Maltese, the Majorca, the Italian, and the
Poitou — all of which are imported — and the native jack. Of all
the imported, the Catalonian is the finest type of animal, being
a good black, with white points, of fine style and action, and
from 14i to 15 hands high, rarely 16 hands, with a clean
bone. The Andalusian is about the same type of jack as the
Catalonian, having perhaps a little more weight and bone, but
are all off colours. The Maltese is smaller than the Catalonian,
rarely being over 14f hands high, but is nice and smooth. The
Majorca is the largest of the imported jacks, the heaviest in
weight, bone, head, and ear, and frequently grows to 16 hands.
These are raised in the rich island of Majorca, in the Mediter-
ranean Sea. While they excel in weight and size, they lack in
style, finish, and action. The Italian is the smallest of all the
imported jacks, being usually from 13 to 14 hands high, but
having good foot, bone, and weight, and some of them make
good breeders. The Poitou is the latest importation of the
jack, and is little known in the United States. He is imported
from France, and is reported to be the sire of some of the finest
mules in his native land. These jacks have long hair about the
neck, ears, and legs, and are in some respects to the jack race
what the Clydesdale is to other horses. He is heavy set, has

THE AMERICAN MULE. 121

good foot and bone, fine head and ear, and of good size, being
about 15 hands high.

" The native jack, as a class, is heavier in body, having a
larger bone and foot than the imported, and shows in his entire
make-np the result of the limestone soil and grasses common in
this country. He is of all colours, having descended from all
the breeds of imported jacks. But the breeders of this country,
seeing the fancy of their customers for the black jack with light
points, have discarded all other colours in selecting their jacks,
•and the consequence is that a large proportion of the jacks in
the stud now, for mares, are of this colour.

'* The native jack, being acclimated, seems to give better
satisfaction to breeders of mules than any other kind. From
observation and experience it is believed that our native jacks,
with good imported crosses behind them, will sire the mules
best suited to the wants of those who use them in this country,
and will supply the market with what is desired by the dealers.
The colts by this class of jacks are stronger in make-up, having
better body, with more length, larger head and ear, more foot
and bone, combined with style equal to the colts of the imported
jacks.

" While many fine mules are sired by imported jacks, this is
not to be understood as meaning that imported jacks do not get
good foals, yet, taken as a class, we think that the mule by the
native jack is superior to any other class. This conclusion is
borne out by an experience and observation of some years, and
by many of the best breeders and dealers in the United States.

" THE KIND OF MARE TO BREED FROM.

" As the mule partakes very largely in its body and shape of
its mother, it is necessary that care should be taken in selecting
the dam. Many suppose that when a mare becomes diseased and
unfit for breeding to the horse, then she is fit to breed for mules.
This is a sad mistake, for a good, growing, sound colt must have
good, sound sire and dam.

** The jack may be ever so good, yet the result will be a
disappointment unless the mare is good, sound, and properly

122 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

built for breeding. First, she should be sound and of good
colour ; black, bay, brown, or chestnut is preferred. Her good
colour is needed to help to give the foals proper colour, and this
is a matter of no small importance.

*' This should not be understood as ignoring the other colours,
for some of the best mules ever seen were the produce of grey
or light- coloured mares, as many dealers and breeders will attest.
The mare should be well bred ; that is, she would give better
results by having some good crosses. By all means let her have
a cross of thoroughbred, say one-quarter, supplemented with
strong crosses of some of the larger breeds, and the balance of
the breeding may be made up of the better class of the native
stock. The mare should have good length, large, well-rounded
barrel, good head, long neck, good, broad, flat bone, broad chest,,
wide between the hips, and good style.

" HOW TO BREED THE MULE.

" Having selected the sire and the dam, the next thing is to
produce the colt. The sire, if well kept and in good condition,,
is ready for business, but not so with the mare. The dam is to-
be in season ; that is, in heat. Before being bred, to prevent
accidents, the mare should be hobbled or pitted. Having taken
this precaution, the jack may be brought out, and both will be
ready for service. Care should be taken not to overserve the
jack, as he should not be allowed to serve over two mares a day^

" The mare, after being served, may be put to light work, or
put upon some quiet pasture by herself for several days until
she passes out of season, when she may be turned out with other
stock to run until the eighteenth day, when she should be taken
up to be teased by a horse, to ascertain if she be in season, and
if so, she should be bred again. Some breeders think the ninths
some the twelfth, and some the fifteenth day after service is the
proper day to tease, but observation has taught us that the best
results come from the eighteenth -day plan. After she becomes
impregnated she should have good treatment ; light work will
not hurt her, but care should be taken not to overexert. She
should have good, nutritious grass if she runs out and is not

THE AMEBIGAN MULE. 123

worked, but if worked she should be well fed on good feed. The
foal will be due in about 333 days. As the time approaches for
foaling the mare should be put in a quiet place, away from
other stock, imtil the foal is dropped. She will not need any
extra attention, as a i-ule, but should be looked after to see that
everything goes right.

" After the foal comes it will not hurt the mare or colt for the
dam to do light work, provided she is well fed on good,
nutritious food. Should she not be worked and is on good
grass, and fed lightly on grain, the colt will grow finely, if the
mare gives plenty of milk ; if she does not the foal should be
taught to eat such feed as is most suitable.

"The colt should be well cared for at all times, and par-
ticularly while following its mother, for the owner may want
to sell at weaning time, which is foui* months old, and its inches
then will fix the j)rice. Good mules at weaning time usually
bring from $75 to $90, and sometimes as high as $100 (18?.

to 25Z.).

" Feeders, dealers, and buyers prefer the mare mule to the
horse, and they sell more readily. The females mature earlier,
are plumper and rounder of body, and fatten more readily than
the male.

" In weaning the colt, much is accompHshed by proper
treatment preparatoiy to this trying event in the mule's life.
It should be taught to eat while following its mother, so that
when weaned it will at once know how to subsist on that which
is fed to it. The best way to wean is to take several colts and
place them in a close barn, with plenty of good, soft feed, such
as bran and oats mixed, plenty of sound, sweet hay, and, in
season, cut- grass, remembering at all times that nothing can
make up for want of pure water in the stable. Many may be
weaned together properly. After they have remained in the
stable for several days they may be turned on good, rich
pasture. Do not forget to feed, as this is a trying time. The
change from a milk to a diy diet is severe on the colt. They
may all be huddled in a barn together, as they seldom hurt each
other. Good, rich clover pastures are fine for mules at this

124 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

age, but if they are to be extra fine, feed tliem a little grain all
the while.

" There is little variety in the feed until the mules are two
years old, at which time they are very easily broken. If halter-
broken as they grow up, all there is to do in breaking one is to
put on a harness and place the young animal beside a broken
mule, and go to work. When it is thoroughly used to the
harness the mule is already broken. Light work in the spring,
when the mule is two years old, will do no hurt, but, in the
opinion of many breeders and dealers, make it better, j)rovided
it is carefully handled and fed.

'* HOW TO FATTEN THE MULE.

'* This is one of the most im^^ortant parts of mule-raising, for
when the mule is offered to a buyer, he will at once ask, " Is he
fat ? ' and fat goes far in effecting a sale. A rough, j)oor mule
could hardly be sold, while if it is fat the buyer will take it
because it is fat.

" The mule should be placed in the barn with plenty of room,
and not much light, about the 1st of November, before it is two
years old, and fed about twelve ears of (Indian) corn per day,
and all the nice, well-cured clover hay it will eat, and there kept
until about the 1st of April. Then in the climate of middle
Tennessee the clover is good, and the mule may be turned out
on it, and the com increased to about tw^enty ears or more per
day. They will then eat more grain, without fear of ' firing ; '
that is, heating so as to cause scratches, as the green clover
removes all danger from this soui'ce. During the time they iim
on the clover they eat less hay, but this should always be kept
by them. About the 1st of May the clover blooms, and is large
enough to cut, in the latitude of Tennessee. The mules should
be placed, then, in the barn, with a nice smooth lot attached,
and plenty of pure water, A manger should be built in the lot,
4ft. wide by 4ft. high, and long enough to accommodate the
number of mules it is desired to feed. This should be covered
over by a shed high enough for the mule to stand under, to
prevent the clover from wilting. The clover should be cut

THE AMERICAN MULE. 125

while the dew is on, as this preserves the aroma, and thej like it
better. While this is going on in the lot, the troughs and
racks in the barns should be supplied with all the shelled corn
(maize) the mules will eat. ' Why shell it ? ' some one will ask.
Because they eat more of it, and relish it. A valuable addition
at all times consists of either short-cut sheaf oats, or shelled
oats, and bran, if not too expensive.

" From this time the mule should be pressed with all the
richest of feed, if it is desired to make it what is temied in mule
parlance, 'hog fat.' Ground barley, shelled oats, bran, and
shelled corn, should be given, not forgetting to salt regularly all
the while, nor omitting the hay and green corn blades. While
all those are essential, oats and bran, although at some places
expensive, are regarded as the ne jjliis ultra for fattening a mule,,
and giving a fine suit of hair. Be sure to keep the barn well
bedded, for if the hair becomes soiled from rolling it lowers the
value, as the mule is much estimated for its fine coat.

" ihe grain makes the flesh, and the green stuff keeps the
system of the mule cool, and balances the excess of carbonaceous
elements in the grain fed.

"The manner of feeding, if properly carried out, with the
proper foundation to start with, will make mules, two years old
past, weigh from 11501b. to 13601b. by the 1st of September, at
which time the market opens.

** A feeder of eighteen years' experience claims that oats and
bran will put on more fine flesh in a given time, coupled with a
smoother, glossier coat of hair, than any other known feed. The
experienced feeder follows this method from weaning till two
years old."

The endurance and utility of the American mule was
thoroughly demonstrated during the Civil War^ when a
large number of these animals performed extraordinary
service in connection with the Federal armies. One six-
mule team fitted out in Maryland in the spring of 186U
driven by a coloured driver, was worked in Washington

126 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

until May_, 1862, then transferred to tlie army of the
Potomac, re-shipped for Washington, employed in hauling
ammunition at the battle of Bull Run, and afterwards
followed the army of the Potomac under Grant till 1864.
The mules were worked every day until Richmond was
taken, and in 1865 transferred back to Washington, and
at the end of 1866 were still w^orking in the train, and
regarded as one of the best military teams going. They
were all under 14^ hands. They had frequently been
without bite of hay or grain for four or five days, and for
twenty-four hours without water.

Riley, in his work on the mule, published in 1867, gives
numerous examples of other teams which did equally good
work.

OHAPTEE XVI.
MULES FOE, MILITARY SERVICE.

The advantages of mules as pack animals for military and
draught purposes are acknowledged on all hands. When-
ever any branch of the army is employed on foreign
service mules have to be purchased for transport, inasmuch
as horses cannot stand the rough labour that is required
of them.

No stronger or more conclusive testimony as to the
invaluable service rendered by mules when employed for
army transport can be adduced than that furnished by
Major A. G. Leonard, in his recently published admirable
book on " The Camel/' considered solely as an animal for
military use. Although the author is writing a work on
one animal and detailing the advantages that it offers to
the military service when employed in suitable situations,
his experience of mules, of which he has had four handred
at one time under his command, leads him to express
himself in the strongest possible manner in their favour.
Major A. Gr. Leonard writes :

" The mule is about the handiest and hardiest of all pack
animals. He can work in any country, and under every con-
dition of climate, but is specially suited for mountainous
regions. He will go over any ground, no matter how steep and
rocky, he is so very sure-footed and nimble. His toughness and
endurance are perfectly marvellous, and it is wonderful how

128 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

lonp^ and on how little he seems to live and even thrive. He is
less liable to sore backs and galls than any other animal, the
donkey excepted. He is a fast walker, and will keep up three
miles an hour on average ground, and on good I have known
him to do three and a half. Even on a bad road, over rocks
and hills, he will do two and a half miles ; but of course heavy
sand is very trying to him, as it is for all animals except the
camel. He is accused of being obstinate and ill-tempered, but
this — if it is the case — arises almost wholly from ill-treatment
during juvenility, as well as from the woeful ignorance of the
animal's ways that generally prevails among Britishers. The
mule is naturally docile and patient in the hands of those who
understand him and who treat him kindly, and he will show
them as much affection nearly as a horse. He strongly objects
to be hit over the head and kicked violently in the ribs or
stomach, as I have frequently caught " Tommy Atkin^ " doing,
and naturally enough this brutal treatment by no means
improves his temper or his manners, so he returns it by biting,
kicking, and becoming generally refractory. It is generally
supposed that they live from fifteen to twenty years, though
some live to thirty, and a few beyond that age. When I WdS
in India fifteen years ago there were mules belonging to the
Commissariat who were said to have been twenty-two years in
the service, and were still working.

**The Indian pack mule, or I should say the pack mule
used in India, ranging between 12 and 13 hands, is by far
the best I have seen. I dislike taller mules for pack work.
The shorter ones are handier and much easier to load, much
more so when they are fresh and obstreperous, as at the
beginning of a march or after a rest. In the Egyptian Expedi-
tion of 1882 I worked with four hundred Sicilian mules, and
splendid animals they were too, but, on the whole, they were in
my opinion a trifle too tall for pack work."

Another very practical authority on military transport.
Captain F. D. Lugard^ in his work on our East African
Empire,, writes as follows :

■ ';

III

■ %

\ %

MULES FOB MILITARY SERVICE. 129

" Of all transport animals the hardiest, and therefore, on the
whole, perhaps the most useful, is the mule. To be worth his
keep and supervision, mules should not be less than 13 hands
high, and capable of carrying 1801b. to 2001b. over rough
country. This thej will do if provided with a suitable saddle,
so that the load may ride easily, and sore backs and continual
breakdowns may be avoided."

The engraving shows a gun mule in marching order
as used in the Indian Mule Batteries,, but^ as Captain
Lugard says^ the character of the saddle is most important,
and therefore it is desirable to reproduce the following
detailed description of the best pack saddles used in
India, the native one which is used in the Punjab and the
Government gear which has been founded on it. This
very important detailed account was furnished by a
military officer in an exhaustive article on Indian transport
animals, communicated to the Tirn^es, September 21st, 1880.
In the course of his introductory remarks, the writer says :

** The mule is, probably, the best of all transport pack animals
for a mountainous country. Unfortunately, she — for the female
is generally employed — is comparatively scarce in India. The
mules purchased for transport purposes in Afghanistan were,
generally speaking, small-sized animals, seldom exceeding
13 hands, but they have wonderful powers of endurance, and
are seldom ' sick or sorry.' For some time past the Govern-
ment of India have endeavoured to improve the breed of mules
in the North- Western Provinces, and it is satisfactory to learn
that the question of the best means of extending mule breeding
throughout India is now engaging serious attention,

** The nature of pack saddle in general use for mules and
ponies is that known as the * Punjab pattern.' It is a modifi-
cation of the native pack- gear which is met with all along the
North- Western frontier of India. The native mule-owner,
when * saddling up ' or preparing the animal to receive the load,

130 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

commences by laying several strips of a soft material, sncli as
old woollen blanketing, along each side of the animal's back-
bone, extending from the withers to the quarters. The country
name for this padding is ' malli.' The horse blanket, or ' jhool,'
as it is sometimes called — ' jhool ' being the Indian name for
the clothing of all transport animals — is then folded double or
quadruple, according to its size, and placed on the animal's
back over the ' malli.' The ' soonda ' is now placed on the
blanket, and the whole gear bound tightly on to the animal by
the * dotunga.' The object of the ' soonda ' is to keep the load
from pressing on the animal's s^Dine, and to distribute the
pressure evenly along the back. It is made by stuffing with
reeds or stout straw a long bag made of canvas or blanketing.
This bag, which is like a six-foot sausage, and as thick as an
ordinary wine bottle, is then bent into the shape of a cylindrical
sugar-tongs, the legs of which are kept from splaying out by
* keepers' of canvas or blanketing. When placed in position
on the animal's back, the bent end is a little in rear of the
withers, and the spine is between the two legs. The ' dotunga '
is simply a canvas cover or body roller, fitted with girths, and
sometimes with breast and breech pieces ; the latter, however,
are usually made of tape or string. The ' dotunga ' is placed
over the ' soonda ' in the centre of the back, and when girthed
up, binds all the gear together. The load is now slung over
the animal and lashed on. The Government gear mainly
consists in replacing the canvas * dotunga' by a species of saddle
made of two well-stuffed leather flaps, fastened by leather
bands, and fitted with strong girths, crupper, and leather breast
and breech pieces. The saddle is placed so that the leather
bands rest on the ' soonda,' and the stuffed flaps protect the
sides of the animal. Two iron rings are fitted to each flap, so
that the load can be firmly attached to the saddle. The load is
carried either in a ' sulletah ' or a ' sling,' or simply lashed on.
The transport ' sulletah ' is a double bag, made of coarse canvas,
sacking, or cloth. Its size depends on the animal it is required
for — elephant, camel, or mule. It may easily be made by
folding a broad strip of material until the ends meet in the

MULES FOB MILITARY SERVICE. 131

centre, or, rather, until one end slightly overlaps the other.
The sides are then sewn together and the ends fui-nished with
strings or tapes. The result is a double bag or purse, which
can be filled on each side, and slung across the animal's back.
Some mule ' sulletahs ' are specially fitted with leather thongs,
for attachment to the iron rings of the Punjab saddle. The
* sulletah ' is useful for carrying small packages, loose grain,
articles packed in thin coverings, &c. The ' sling ' is a broad
strip of coarse canvas or sacking furnished along its edges with
eyelet holes. The load, which may consist of boxes, portman-
teaux, sacks of flour, &c., is arranged on the sling so that the
ends can be folded up and the sides lashed together by a cord
running through the eyelet holes. Thus a purse with open
sides can be formed and slung across the animal. The size
of the * sling,' of course, depends upon the nature of the
animal."

A most useful and exceedingly interesting account of
the manner in which baggage can be securely fastened on
to pack mules without the aid of any special saddle was
described and illustrated in the Field of February 2nd,
1895, by Mr. Albert H. Leith, of Chihuahua, Mexico. The
account, with some slight alteration in the text and
engravings, is as follows. Mr. Leith says :

" I was initiated into the mysteries of the hitch,
by means of which baggage is securely fastened on
the most refractory of ponies, during the campaign in
Afghanistan, and I was much impressed on seeing how
neatly and securely the load was tied by means of this
knot, which is in use over all the Pacific slope ; and calling
to mind the scenes I had sometimes witnessed, I thought
that the accomplishment would be an 'exceedingly useful
one to the British soldier.

" Twenty years of frontier life and use of the hitch enable
me to thoroughly realise its advantages, and having

K 2

132

MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

frequently seen allusions to it^ I think that perhaps the
endeavour to explain it may be acceptable. Its greatest
advantage is that in the case of camp outfits, when
blankets are a part of the pack, no saddle is required ;
indeed, the pack is infinitely firmer, and the animal less
liable to be given a sore back, without the forward
shifting abomination which the pack saddle is.

" In both of the diagrams the off side of the mule only
is shown. To proceed :

" Take a thirty-foot picket rope, throw half on each side
of the horse or mule, the middle of the rope lying across
the top of the pack; then let each man make a loop
round the pack on his side, putting his foot into it as a
stirrup, as shown in the figure. Then the man on the

MULES FOB MILITARY SERVICE.

133

off side takes his end of the rope as shown in the drawing,
and, passing it down through his stirrup-loop, puts it under
the belly and through his companion's stirrup-loop on the
other side (both meanwhile holding taut with one hand
above). When he has pulled the slack of his part of the
rope through (but not till then) he tells his companion to
slip his foot out, and at the same time smartly hauls the
caught-up stirrup-loop from the near side into its place

under the mule's belly, as shown in the second drawing.
Then his companion in turn takes his end of the rope and,
reaching under the belly, puts it through the stirrup -loop
on the off side (which the first man has kept his foot in)
and hauls it similarly into place on the near side of the
belly, then both on their respective sides, giving a good
pull together, make everything taut (as shown in the

134 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

drawing), and all tliat remains to be done is to tie the spare
rope ends with a double-reef knot (pulling tight again
when making it) on the top of the pack.

" Now, with reference to what I said above about pack
saddles. All the saddle that this tie requires is a large
pad ; therefore if blankets are a part of the pack, they
make the pad. First lay an old half blanket as a sweat-
cloth on the anima?s back (folded so as to cover about two
and a half feet length of the back, and hanging down a
little more than half-way down the ribs) ; then folding all
the blankets and bedding to the same size, as much as
possible, lay them on top of the sweat-cloth, evenly one
by one ; on the top of that lay the canvas or waterproof
sheeting, similarly folded; then sling flour and other
provisions, in sacks, equally balanced on each side of
back (by means of small rope ties connecting them and
holding them in place) ; then put whatever other sack of
dunnage there is still to go on, on top in the middle
between the two last ; and then, over all, holding every-
thing together, goes the hitch. And if this is carefully put
on as regards balancing of weights, and made well taut in all
its parts, it will ^ stick ' over the roughest mountain trails,
and when the pack is taken off at night there will be no
sore back, as is so frequently the case with a pack saddle.

"I have used this hitch under all circumstances, having
packed only 201b. of blankets with it on a spare horse
when going on a cattle round-up, or 2001b. of general
camp outfit on a mule when crossing mountain trails
where a wagon could not go. It is too well known in the
Far West to require any testimonials, but one, I think, I
may give it. Twelve years ago, when I settled the ranche
on the Mexican frontier from which I write, smuggling
was the occupation of the Mexicans in the frontier villages,

MULES FOR MILITARY SERVICE. 135

and one day one of the smugglers, wlio had done me
some favours {honi soit qui mal y pense), camped with his
mule train in the mountains at a place where I was
' nooning/ Well, Mexicans are conceded to be good
packers, and especially the mountain smugglers, but they
use a more complicated tie than this hitch, so I taught
it him. From that day till smuggling was put an end to
bv an efficient force of frontier gendarmes, he used no
other, and showed it to many of his confreres, the
consequence being that to-day it is known in the neigh-
bouring Mexican villages as the nudo contrabandisto/^

In India mule breeding for the army service has
attracted very great attention. It was followed in the
Punjab before the country came under British rule, as
the mule was found an indispensable animal for traffic
over the mountain passes in the north-west of the country.
Since 1876 the Government, according to the report of
Yet. -Lieut. -Colonel J. H. B. Hallen, C.I.E., General Super-
intendent Horse-breeding Operations, has fostered the
mule-breeding industry by giving prizes for the best mules
and mule-breeding stock, and by utilising the best donkey
sires obtainable. Colonel Hallen states that at the annual
fair held at Kawalpindi, from thirteen to fourteen hundred
mules are as a rule exhibited for sale, and that owing to
the employment of good sires they are improving year by
year. At first the natives refused to breed mules, from
some superstitious feeling, but finding that they fetched
a much larger price at the fairs than the horse stock bred
from their mountain ponies, they went largely into their
production. Colonel Hallen, in his official Memorandum
on mule breeding, April, 1891, reports that :

" It may be noted that a very inferior mare, quite unfit for
horse breeding, i.e., only able to produce worthless and un-

136 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

saleable horse stock, will, wlien mated with a good donkey,
produce a mule of size and worth. Thus mule breeding has
been a most useful adjunct to horse breeding, as worthless
mares, totally unfit to produce horse stock, have been employed
as mule breeders, and not only have given fair mules, but have
started the industry in North- Western Provinces and Rajputana,
and these unfit mares for horse breeding have been prevented
producing bad horse stock, and so the breeding districts have
been relieved of the evil influence these mares had in producing
worthless horse stock, and of course their malformation and
hereditary defects and diseases have been for ever got rid of, as
their mule produce is infertile.

" Further it has to be explained that a good horse mare when
mated with a good donkey yields, as a rule, a superior mule of
great value, indeed, often of greater value in the Indian market
than an ordinary horse ; so in the Punjab, where mule breeding
is better understood and appreciated than in other parts of
India, a better class of pony and horse mare is made a mule
breeder.

" At the Rawalpindi Fair of 1888 a mule realised the highest
price of any stock sold at the fair. Again, as regards mule
breeding being a safer investment than ordinary horse breeding,
it is found that the mule is a hardier animal and able to
browse young bushes, &c., so that in seasons of drought he
maintains his condition and develops when horse stock become
impoverished and prove stai'veHngs."

In some of the other parts of India mule breeding had
made less progress, inasmuch as it was not properly
fostered by the Government and good donkey sires intro-
duced. Colonel Hallen regards the Italian breed known
as the " Razza ^' as the best jack for mule breeding for the
Indian service, as the produce of the Poitou jack carries
too much hair, and suffers in the summer months. The
Catalan jacks are not as suitable as the Italian, and the
Cyprians are too small and wanting in bone. The Arab

MULES FOB MILITARY SERVICE. 137

jacks are found too delicate to stand the winter of the
Punjab. The Persian are superior to the Arab, and as
mule sires are better. Yet. -Major G. J. R. Rayment, the
assistant superintendent of the Horse Breeding Depart-
ment, North-Western Provinces, agrees fully with Colonel
Hallen that the best class of donkey sires for his district
is undoubtedly the Italian ^' Razza,^^ of which a typical
example is represented in the frontispiece.

During the present year a report has been received from
Lieut. F. A. Thatcher on mule breeding across the Chinese
frontier, bordering on the Bhamo district. He states that the
extent to which the business of mule breeding is pursued
in that country is almost incredible ; that the produce of
the mines is carried by meaus of mules and ponies, which
are numbered by tens of thousands. Nearly one-half of
the pony mares are employed to breed mules, but no
hinnies are allowed to be produced. The young mules
are taken in hand for training when about two years old.
They do an enormous amount of work on a very small
quantity of food.

The rearing of mule stock for army service in India and
elsewhere is so important a matter that it has been
thought desirable to add the practical directions on mule
breeding, written for the use of the horse and mule
breeding department in India by Mr. C. L. Sutherland,
which will be found in the Appendix.

CHAPTER XYII.
REMARKS ON THE USE OF MULES.

Considering that mule breeding is increasingly carried on
in most of our colonies^ as well as in India, it seems rather
an anomaly that the mother country should not be able to
supply the '' jack/' the chief factor in the business. We
are accustomed to supply our colonists with horses, bulls,
sheep, and pigs of the very best kinds, and such as meet
all requirements ; but when jacks are wanted, an order
is generally placed in the hands of a City firm, who at
once find themselves at their wits' end in regard to carrying
it out. Attempts are made to find out some mercantile
house which has connection with Spain, and the order is
mostly placed there in the hands of people who are not in
the slightest degree acquainted with the business or its
details. Animals are bought, shipped to England, and re-
shipped to their destination, and on arrival, after great
cost has been incurred, are found to be utterly useless for
the purpose required. If the order is sent to the South of
Spain, what are called by the Americans " off coloured '^
(grey) jacks are bought. This is the first mistake.
Custom requires that mule-getting jacks shall be
'' black, with mealy points.^' The second mistake is — and
this remark applies specially to Andalusian jacks —
that fine- looking, big-boned animals, that the Spaniards

REMARKS ON THE USE OF MULES. 139

liave discovered are no good for mule breeding, are care-
fully palmed off on tlie English buyers. It is a common
thing for the captains of English steamers engaged in
trading with Spanish ports to bring home a jack or two
on speculation on their own account; it may be taken
almost as a certainty that such animals are useless, and
that they have been carefully kept for this particular
market. At the same time it must be owned that, apart
from colour, very excellent big-boned jacks can be
obtained in Southern Spain, but considerable care and
technical knowledge must be exercised in making the
purchases.

Seeing that our breeds of stock are so much sought
after, it seems strange that, except in a few isolated
instances, no attempt should have been made generally to
improve the British donkey, and so give him the rank and
position pertaining to a jack. It may be said that a
donkey is a donkey all over the world ; but the difference
between a donkey and a jack is as great as that between a
tramp and a King. Directly a male member of the
asinine race has size, bone, and substance enough to be
used as a jack, his value is increased enormously. A
donkey in London is worth from 21. to 5Z. A jack (or
baudet) in Poitou is worth from lOOL to 400Z. ; some
years ago, when the writer was in Kentucky, he was
assured by Mr. B. B. Groom, who will be remembered by
old Shorthorn breeders, that more than one jack had been
sold in Kentucky for $5000 (lOOOZ.). Looking at the
never-failing demand from our colonies for jacks at good
prices, it might perhaps be worth the while of enterprising
British agriculturists to turn their attention to the pro-
duction of this class of stock.

Mules have been bred in the south of Ireland for many

140 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

years^ and many foreign jacks have been imported for the
purpose ; but, with the exception of the late Mr. Kavanagh
and the late Lord Clancarty, no attempt to breed jacks for
exportation to the colonies has been made in Ireland.
Some three years ago the Congested Districts Board
imported several grey Andalusian jacks for breeding pur-
poses. In the opinion of the writer, it would have been
more expedient to import the *^'' black jack, with mealy
points/' from, say, Catalonia. The improved Irish jack
stock would in course of time have been available for
exportation at good prices to the colonies for mule
breeding purposes.

It will be argued, and with some degree of truth, that
grey jacks of the right shape and make will get just as
good mules as black. So they will ; but these grey jacks
will not bring the same price when offered for sale in the
market as mule getters ; and surely it is best to breed the
kind of stock that will bring about this desirable result.
A few years ago Dr. P., of Nashville, Tennessee, after
trying in vain to buy some jacks in Poitou (the prices were
too high) went on to the south of Spain. He was not an
expert, and in his eyes a jack was a jack. He bought a
number of grey ^^ off coloured '^ animals, which he took
over to the States for sale. Arrived in Tennessee with his
cargo, he found that it was impossible to dispose of them
at a remunerative price, and a heavy loss resulted.

In buying a jack for mule breeding it is requisite to
decide whether the mules are required for pack or draught
work, and, if the latter, whether for heavy draught or
trotting work. If pack mules are wanted, a smaller and
less expensive jack is required. Other things being equal,
the value of a jack increases with his height. There can
be no greater mistake than to employ tall mules for pack

REMARKS ON THE USE OF MULES. 141

work. Indeed, it is next to impossible to load, say, a
15 hand mule, and tliis stupid attempt to utilise tall mules
for pack work always results in failure, and tlien the mule
is blamed. To speak generally, a pack mule should never
exceed 14 hands in height. From 12 hands to 13.2 is
better. The load of such an animal should not exceed
2001b., exclusive of the pack saddle, which is often
unnecessarily heavy. To produce pack mules the jack
may vary in height from 12 hands to 13.2, and the mare
from which the mule is to be bred should be about the
same height. In breeding in India it is found extremely
difficult to keep down the height of pack mules. When
nature allows two distinct species, like the horse and ass,
to breed together, the resulting mule will generally grow
to a greater height than either of its parents if properly
fed during the growing stage. The Italian ^'Eazza^' jack,,
standing from 12 hands to 13.2, produces excellent pack
mules, with great courage and endurance.

To get mules for heavy draught, whether on the farm,
for the town dray, for hauling in the docks, or towing on
canals, there is no jack that will surpass that of Poitou if
properly chosen and mated with heavy mares. If mules
are required for trotting and galloping work, as in the
coaches of Southern Africa, the Catalonian jack, when he
is not narrow chested and high on the leg, is the best, as
he has more courage than the Poitou. Lighter and better
bred mares must also be selected for this purpose, and it is
essential that the mares shall be good-tempered. The
Kentucky mule is well known for his courage and generally
good qualities. This is chiefly on account of the mares
having a cross of thoroughbred blood in their veins, and
this, with the assistance of a good jack of Catalonian
origin, has made the Kentucky mule what he is. The sight

142 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

■of a number of ^^smootli^^ Kentucky males witli shining
coats and in show condition is a thing that must be seen to
be appreciated. The original Maltese jack^ from Gozo,
formerly had a great name in the States as a mule getter,
iDut it was stated at one time that the island had been
•entirely depleted of the old breed by the Americans.
The Maltese jack has been much used in the West Indies,
especially in the breeding "pens '^ in Jamaica.

At a time when many eyes are turned towards South Africa
:and its requirements, and when the difficulty attaching to
transport in this part of the world on account of horse
sickness and the tsetse fly threatens to baffle all efforts in
this direction, it will be well to try and discover a solution
of the difficulty, pending the construction of railroads.
The standard mode of transport there, as all the world
knows, is by bullock waggons ; but bullocks are slow, and
the rumen of the bullock takes a great deal of filling. The
b)ullock is slow and sure, but, on account of its slowness,
cannot be accepted as entirely satisfactory in these days,
although it must be borne in mind that, prior to the
adoption of the mule in America, the development of the
Western States, so far as the transport was concerned,
was entirely brought about by bullocks attached to the
prairie-schooners.

In the late Lord Eandolph ChurchilFs book on ^^Men,
Mines, and Animals in South Africa,^^ the donkey is
•declared to be exempt from horse sickness. But the
donkey proper is too small for anything but pack work.
Big donkeys would be too valuable, and probably too
delicate, for this kind of work. At the same time we
cannot afford to ignore the value of the donkey for this
purpose.

Reference has already been made in these pages to the

REMARKS ON THE USE OF MULES. 143

employment of Barchell's zebra in the Transvaal coaches,
and from the latest accounts he would seem to answer fairly
well, as he is said to suffer from neither of these ailments,
and, in addition, it has been found that the idea as to the
impossibility of taming and breaking the zebra is a perfect
myth. Zebras (BurchelFs) have been used in harness at
the Jardin d^Acclimatation and in the streets of Paris for
more than twenty years. In these circumstances it would
seem to be quite worth while to attempt the breeding of
zebra (Burchell's) mules from mares. It might, perhaps,
be said, " Why not breed them from donkey mares, inas-
much as the donkey is exempt equally with the zebra ? "
But mules so bred would not be fast enough for coaching
work, and would take too much '^ getting along.'' Zebra
hinnies would be better — i.e., bred from female Burchells
by a good Yorkshire hackney stallion. The hinny or
jennet is always a better beast for fast work than the mule.
Jennets may be seen trotting- along in almost any town or
village in the South of Ireland. If it is a fact that the
zebra and donkey are both " exempt,'' it might be worth
while to cross them in both ways, so as to produce both
mules and hinnies, which should all be very valuable for
pack work at least. These suggestions are offered for the
consideration of those whom it may concern in South
Africa.

Three Burchell-zebra hinnies, bred from a female Burchell
by small horses, may be seen in Sir Henry Meux's park
at Theobalds, near Enfield, Middlesex. The hybrids
vary in height from 13 to 14 hands. They "^ favour" the
zebra in markings and conformation, and are well worthy
of inspection.

In the chapter on ^' The American Mule" (page 116), an
exceedingly good article by Mr. J. L. Jones, of Columbia,

144 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

Tennessee, has been previously quoted almost in its entirety.
Mr. Jones describes admirably the various breeds of
imported jacks tliat are used in the States, and finishes up
by declaring that the '^ native jacks, with good imported
crosses behind them, will sire the best mules." This is
entirely in accord with the writer^s views. There is no one
European breed that combines in itself all the desirable
qualities of size, bone, short legs, and courage, but by judicious
crossing of the various breeds a very superior animal can
be obtained. The Poitou and Majorca have size, bone, and
short legs, but are deficient in courage. The Catalonian
has size, fair bone, and good courage, but is apt to be
narrow chested, light barrelled, and high on the leg. The
Maltese has fair height, capital courage, but is light of
bone. The Italian has extraordinary courage, but is rather
deficient in height, weight, and bone. So far as getting
draught mules is concerned, he is much sought after by
French breeders and taken to Savoy, where he becomes the
sire of most excellent mules for (comparatively speaking)
light draught work. By judicious crossing, the writer
succeeded, in some four or five generations, in producing
jacks with the whole of the desirable qualities above
referred to — viz., size, bone, short legs, courage, as well as
good general conformation.

The Americans have always attached great importance
to height in a jack to the disregard of other qualities ; but
it is not the tallest jacks that get the best mules. In point
of fact, it is very much the contrary, and it is rare to
find a jack exceeding 15 hands which can be properly
classed as ^' short legged. ^^ Excessive height in a jack
necessarily implies height on the leg — a most undesirable
point in a breeder^s eyes on this side of the water. Jacks
of 16 hands high are not uncommon in the States. The

REMARKS ON THE USE OF MULES. 145

tallest jack known is believed to have been a Catalonian
imported into Tennessee in 1887. He was called " Great
Eastern," and had been awarded first prize at the great
show at Puycerda, in Catalonia, in 1886. He stood 16 hands
3 inches high, and was used in Tennessee for jennies only, at
a fee of lOZ. for each, being the same amount as that charged
in this country for the services of the Shire horse Prince
Harold, recently sold for upwards of 2000Z. Unfortunately
for his owners. Great Eastern became badly " foundered ''
soon after arriving in the States.

For a number of years teams of large mules have been
regularly worked at Badminton, the hunting seat of the
Duke of Beaufort, for farm and general carting work. At
one time they were used a good deal, in a team of four,
in the hound-van, but as they got on in years it was
thought that they were not fast enough, and the billet was
handed over to old hunters and harness horses. A mixed
team of mules in the wheel and old hunters in the lead
would have proved successful, and, supposing the old
hunters were *' quick " enough to get out of the way of the
bars, it would have been found that a pair of well-bred
mules made most efficient wheelers, '^ collaring " and
" holding " in a way that would quite astonish an orthodox
" coachman."

Mr. A. J. Scott, of Rotherfield Park, near Alton, Hants,
has also bred a number of large mules (from English cart
mares and foreign jacks), which he employs for farming and
estate work, and which give great satisfaction. He has
also bred several jacks and jennies, which have been
exported to various countries for mule-breeding purposes.

The following general facts in connection with the
subject under consideration may not be without interest.
Mules are commonly sold by weight, unseen, in the United

146 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

States. Thus a mule dealer at Philadelphia will telegraph
to perhaps the proprietor of the '^ Mammoth '^ Mule Yards
at St. Louis, the headquarters of the mule trade, to send
him a car-load (generally eighteen) of ^^ smooth mules,"
averaging, say, 10001b. weight each.

Instances are on record in which mares have given birth
to twins, a mule and a horse. These were clearly cases of
superfoetation.

The longevity of the mule is one of its chief recom-
mendations. The writer, having made a study of the
mule during forty years at home and in various parts of the
world, as well as having bred and worked them regularly,
is able to affirm that he has never in his experience seen a
dead mule, and that he has never gone out of his way to
avoid seeing one.

A remark or two on the difference between mules and
jennets would not perhaps be out of place. The jennet
favours the mare in about the same degree that the mule
favours the jack. It is generally supposed that in crossing
tlie donkey is ^^ prepotent '^ over the horse. In the case of
the mule the jack is very prepotent, but it is not so in the
case of the jennet, which may be said to be more '''half and
half." An expert has no difficulty in distinguishing mules
from jennets. For trotting work the jennet is the better
animal, and he has great power of endurance as well as
longevity. The jennet is much bred in Ireland, especially
in Limerick, Cork, and parts of Tipperary. In the
congested districts, the chief place for breeding jennets is
in the neighbourhood of Swinford, in co. Mayo, and in
1894 a very good Welsh pony was stationed there by
the Congested Districts Board for the purpose. It is
thought, however, that the breeding of jennets is carried
on in a very haphazard way in Ireland — with no care.

REMARKS ON THE USE OF MULES. 147

using tlie worst possible kind of common country ponies as
sires, and probably breeding- them because the donkeys
have become so much deteriorated that they are of very
little use. The Irish, at all events, would seem to have
benefited by their proceedings. For the above informa-
tion regarding Irish jennets the writer is indebted to
Mr. Frederick Wrench, of the Irish Land Commission. A
great many jennets are bred in the neighbourhood of
Naples, and also in Sardinia.

It is now proposed to add a few final and practical remarks
on the use of mules. It must always be remembered that
a mule is not a natural animal, but that he is rather the
invention of man. He has been aptly described as an
animal with ^''no ancestry, and no hope of posterity .''
Brought up by the side of the mare (his dam), he adores
the whole horse tribe, and hates the asinine race generally.
He is always nervous, and afraid of strangers. Whilst he
is a ^^ natural puller,^' and has enormous strength, he is loth
to make use of it to the utmost unless he has a ^^ lead^^ given
him. This ^^lead^^ should be always, if possible, a horse, or,
better still, a white mare. It seems curious that, while this
peculiarity has long been known in Spain and Italy (where
the diligence always had a horse of some sort or other in
front of the mules to give them a lead), it has only been
partially recognised in other countries (our own colonies
for instance) where the mule has been adopted. Thus at
the Cape, in the coaches, a mare is sometimes put to run
hy the side of the mule team. The mare should be in
front of the whole team, as one of a pair with a mule, but
always in front. The mules will follow ber, and, being
creatures of imitation, will do their work much more
willingly and with less whip.

The employment of a mare driven in front of a mule

L 2

148 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

team is tlie key-note to tlie satisfactory employment of the
mule in general for any kind of draught work. It is_, of
course, well known that, in camping out, an old white mare,
with a bell round her neck, will keep 100 mules from
straying. It seems only common sense that, when peculiari-
ties of this kind are so well known, a mare should be
always, and not occasionally only, employed for this
purpose. It will be found that a pair of mares, or even
horses, used as the " first leaders ^' will produce the same
effect, and that pack mules will equally well follow a horse
or mare. Exemplification of this principle, or peculiarity,
may be seen in the Old World in the streets of Genoa, and
in the New World in those of Philadelphia, or almost any
great city in the States. At Genoa it takes the more
economical form of a donkey in front of a mule, the latter
being harnessed to a cart loaded with two or three tons of
material. It would be absurd to suppose that the poor
donkey is much good, but he does his best in front of the
mule, and the mule seeing this puts his best leg foremost,
not, however, without some persuasion on the part of the
generally brutal carter. At Philadelphia long strings of
mules may be seen drawing railroad cars through the city.
They are, or were, mostly known as '^ Lafferty's teams. ^'
Each string consists of from twelve to fourteen mules in
single file, and each string has a horse or mare in front of
the mules, thus recognising the necessity of the mule
requiring a "lead.^^ It must not, however, be thought that
all mules require a " lead ; '' they differ very much from each
other in this respect. Some will go first and do their work
honestly ; but it must be accepted as a general rule that, in
order to get the maximum amount of work out of a mule
team, a horse or mare of some kind should head each team.
Neglect of the precaution of always having a small pro-

REMARKS ON THE USE OF MULES. 149

portion of horses among mule teams may very possibly end
in disaster where army transport is concerned.

Some years ago^ during tlie progress of one of tlie little
wars in Soutli Africa^ certain "imperial officers'^ were
sent up the country to buy mules for the service. Arrived
at a breeding farm, which happened to belong to an
educated English gentleman, certain mules were shown
which were running in an inclosure with two old ponies^
the latter for company's sake. A bargain was struck for
the whole of the mules, and it was suggested by the seller
that the officers should take the two ponies for an old
song, as it might facilitate their getting the mules down
to headquarters. The seller was rather curtly informed
that their " orders were to buy mules, not ponies.'' The
absence of any practical knowledge of the subject on the
part of the headquarters staff is as self-evident as is the
want of discretionary power accorded to the purchasing
officers. It is thought that the mules are still wandering
about the veldt somewhere in South Africa !

The question as to the occasional fertility of mules is an
interesting one, and has already been referred to. As a
general rule, it may be set down that the mule, both male
and female, is absolutely sterile, although the generative
instinct is perfectly developed in both sexes. It is not
proposed here to enter into a physiological discussion
on the subject, but the reader will find the various points
pro and con. admirably discussed in the second part of
M. Andre Sanson's " Economie du Betail." The so-called
fertile mule "Catherine," still existing at the Jardin
d'Acclimatation, Paris, may or may not be the exception
which proves the rule, but it is necessary, in the first
instance, to prove that '' Catherine " is a mule. From the
first it was taken for granted that she was a mule, but her

150 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

parentage as such lias never been properly authenticated.
'^ CatLerine '' was imported in 1873 from Algeria^ and after
this lapse of time (twenty-two years) it is found impossible
to obtain the necessary information. The fact that her
offspring by a horse are fertile, while those by an ass are
sterile, tends rather to show that she is merely a mare
whose dam once bore a mule, and subsequently bore
^^ Catherine/^ the latter showing signs of the influence of a
previous impregnation. On the other hand, by the casual
observer she would at once be pronounced a mule from her
general appearance, her style of playing, her walk, her
head and ears, and her voice, all of which are mulish. In
any case, she is the only instance of a possibly fertile mule
that has ever come under the writer^s observation after
a rather wide experience. The various cases which from
time to time are reported from the United States must
be taken — in the absence of definite information regarding
the parturition of the mule, which is never given — as cases
of induced lactation. In warm climates it is stated that
occasionally female mules become pregnant, but that
pregnancy is invariably followed by abortion, and that at
an early stage.

The stallion mule is absolutely sterile. He is a most
undesirable beast, either in the prairie, park, or paddock.
He is, however, much used in Northern Italy for draught
work, especially in Genoa. He is capable of performing an
enormous amount of work on very little food, but is apt to
be a great nuisance in a stable. The sterility of the male
mule is allowed on all hands, and if any reader is inclined
to question the fact, he is referred to "Annales des
Sciences Naturelles" en 1824, tome premier, page 184. In
one of the galleries of the museum of the Jardin des
Plantes, Paris, there will be found a specimen^ two or three

REMARKS ON THE USE OF MULES. 151

days old^ of an animal wliicli is labelled as tlie produce of
a mare by a male mule ; but the writer was assured by
M. Milne-Edwards tbat too much dependence must not be
placed on the statement, as no really authentic information
is forthcoming on the subject.

The gelding mule is more generally employed than the
stallion, and, as may be readily imagined, is much more
manageable and tractable, but does not bring the same
price in the market as the female.

The following hint to mule breeders may not be con-
sidered out of place. The presence of mules of any age in
a paddock or on a prairie where foaling mares are kept
should not be tolerated for an instant, supposing that such
mares are permitted to foal down in the open. On the
birth of the foals, be they mules or horses, they would
most certainly be at once killed by the mules out of pure
mischief. This often happens in the United States to
inexperienced breeders.

In the desultory remarks contained in this chapter, the
writer has endeavoured to place fairly before his readers
the advantages and disadvantages attaching to the use of
mules, derived from practical experience of these animals
for many years.

APPENDIX.

MEMORANDUM ON MULE BREEDING.

PREPARED FOR THE USE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF
INDIA BY MR. C. L. SUTHERLAND.

General Treatment of Jacks. — In mule-breeding opera-
tions it is desirable tbatj as a rule_, the jacks be retained at
the haras and not sent round the country (although the
latter system is undoubtedly more conducive to their health
and well being) ^ for the following reasons :

(1) Jacks will often refuse a mare until they have been

^^ prepared'^ by the presence of a jenny. Another
jack, or even a mule, will often produce the desired
effect.

(2) Mares will often refuse the jack owing to fear, and
require to be teased by a horse and blindfolded.

Some jacks will cover a mare as readily as they will a
jenny, and such jacks can be allowed to '^^ travel'^ as horses
do in England ; but it will be found that they are the
exception.

System, in Poitou. — In Poitou, the great mule -breeding
district in France, a haras is composed of from four to ten
jacks, a stallion horse which covers mares in cases in which
it is considered desirable to breed horses and not mules,
one or two jennies to excite the unwilling jacks, and one or
two horse teasers. One of the latter is ridden daily in the
season all round the neighbourhood of the haras to ^* try "
the mares. Those that are found to be in season are, as
soon as possible, brought to the haras, where the other

154 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

teaser is retained for tlie purpose of further teasing tlie
mares on arrival. A liaras with^ say, eight jacks will often
have a clientele of 600 mares. It is thought that the above
reasons are sufficient to warrant the recommendation that
the jacks be retained at the haras_, and only in special cases
allowed to travel round the country.

Exercise or Worh. — Each jack should have a separate
box, and should have daily exercise, either led or loose, in
a well-secured paddock. They can be more readily broken
to harness and worked in carts than is generally supposed.

Food. — The feeding of all breeding animals requires
special attention. All grain which is inordinately rich in
fat-forming constituents, as, for instance, Indian corn,
should be given sparingly. Taken together, perhaps oats
are the best staple food, to which a moderate amount of
the leguminous seeds, peas, beans, and vetches, may be
added.

Bach Salt.' — A lump of rock salt should be placed in
each jack's manger; it adds very greatly to the general
well-being of the animal.

So-called Vicious Jachs. — There is no jack that is so
vicious that he cannot be managed by an expert. Instead
of vicious it is better to use the term lively. Some are
very lively and frighten people not used to these animals.
They will attack and savage a stranger, and take any
amount of punishment on the head and body. The
Americans have a saying that the ^' mule is very private
and particular about his ears.^' The same remark applies
to the jack. A small twig smartly applied to a jack's ears
will keep him off a man better than a thick stick applied
to his head or body. No jack will face a birch broom.
At the sight of it he will retire to the further corner of his
box. To lead a lively jack, get a twitch with a good

MULE BREEDING IN INDIA. 155

thich piece of rope attached to it. Place the rope in his
mouth, i.e., on his lower jaw, and twist it till it is moder-
ately tight. Keep as near the point of the shoulder as
possible. If he is extra lively, put on two of these twitches,
with a man to each, one on each side of the animal. The
length of stick should be from 3ft. to 4ft. This twitch
is the severest way of treating a jack, and should be
seldom required. A common iron or galvanised iron bit,
with cheek pieces from 9in. to 12in. long, will generally
suffice to lead and control a lively jack.

Use and Abuse of Sexual Power, — Two leaps per diem
from each jack, one in the morning and one in the evening,
are all that should be expected_, except in very special
cases. In Poitou six or seven leaps_, up to even twelve,,
are daily exacted from each animal. The average mule-
breeder of France is totally ignorant of the laws of phy-
siology, and has only the love of immediate gain before
his eyes. Although this abuse of sexual power does not
seem actually to shorten the days of the jack, it materially
affects his powers of fecundating his mares. I have known,
however, of jacks of twenty-five years of age retaining
their fecundating powers in spite of having been grossly
abused.

Number of Mares to each Jack. — Looking at the well-
ascertained fact that the mare holds less readily to the
jack than to the horse, and consequently requires to be
served in the generality of cases a greater number of times
by the former in order to prove in foal, it is fair to put
the number of mares for each jack at from fifty to seventy.
In cases in which jacks are intelligently managed and fed
this number may be increased to one hundred mares.

Jacks Serving Donkey Mares. — Some jacks will never
cover a mare after they have once covered a jenny. The

156 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

first service should be on a mare if possible_, and the jack
should not be allowed to serve a jenny until the end of the
season, after having served all the mares required. By the
beginning of the following season he will have forgotten to
a great extent the jennies, and will begin with the mares
again. It is only natural that he should prefer his own
species. There is a very marked difference in his behaviour
and general demeanour when covering mares or jennies.
In certain cases it may be desirable to reserve a certain
proportion of the jacks for breeding what is called in the
United States ^'^jack stock/^ as it is quite possible to spoil
a good mare-server by allowing him to have connection
with his own species. These jacks are called '^'^ jennet
jacks '^ in the United States, and are specially reserved
for the production of jack stock.

In the United States stallion donkeys are called ^^ jacks,^^
mare donkeys ^^ jennets ^^ or ^^ jennies,'^ and the two
together are spoken of as "jack stock.''^

Mode of Exciting a Jack. — The presence of a jenny is
the best and simplest, but, failing that, the presence of
anything with which the animal has been brought up when
young. The means vary with each animal, and it is often
a tedious and slow process. Thus a jack brought up with
cows, as sometimes happens, will require a horned beast to
be present as a dernier ressort. A jack I knew in Poitou
had been hand-reared by a little girl owing to his dam
having been burnt to death the night he was born. This
jack always required a maquignon or groom to clothe him-
self with a horse-rug round his legs before he would
prepare himself. He was a most excellent mule-getter,
but under ordinary circumstances, if transported far away,
would have been at once condemned as useless in the
absence of the above information. Some jacks are very

MULE BREEDING IN INDIA. 157

lethargic, but this failing may generally be got over
by allowing them to see another jack perform, when
their feeling of jealousy will be aroused, and they will
prepare themselves. A jack having been prepared will
sometimes require to be lifted on to the mare by two
men, each man seizing a fore-leg, and care being taken
that he cannot savage the men. He should not be
muzzled as a rule. In cases in which the mare is much
higher than the jack, the former should be placed in a hole
with her head fastened to a strong ring in a post in front,
and a quantity of stable dung placed behind and firmly
trodden down to the required height, which may in some
cases be up to the hocks. This is the usual custom in France,
Spain, and Italy. In the United States the jack is raised
on a kind of platform, but, having tried both plans, I
incline to the former as the better and less dangerous
method. It is imperatively necessary that the mare be
hobbled. The neglect of this precaution frequently results
in broken legs and other injuries.

Rearing Jacks for Mule-hreeding. — Looking at the
fact that certain Punjabi, Bokhara, Persian, and, in the
first instance, Arab donkeys have been considered good
enough to use as jacks, it is fair to presume that among
these breeds some jennies can be found good enough to
continue the race of mule getters when crossed once or
twice with the imported European jacks. In Mexico — and,
I am informed, in Persia — immediately a jack is born he is
taken from the jenny and handed over to a mare to suckle
and bring up. This plan requires very considerable care to
get the mare to take to the jack foal. It is, however, quite
the best. If this arrangement cannot be carried out, the
young jack may be reared by his own dam, weaned at six
months, and then brought up till he is two or three years

158 MULES AND MULE BREEDING.

old in the constant company of a filly of his own age.
The chief thing to bear in mind is that jacks, and in fact
all animals, take to whatever they have been brought up
with when young.

Conclusion. — In this Memorandum I have endeavoured
to point out the practices followed in countries with which
I am practically acquainted, and in which the breeding of
mules is an all-important rural industry. There may be,
and doubtless are, difficulties attending the carrying out
of these practices in India, and I must leave the con-
sideration of them to the authorities on the spot.

LIST OF CHIEF PRIZES WON BY FOREIGN MULES AND ASSES

BELONGING TO

MR. C. L. SUTHERLAND,

Down Hall, Farnhorough, Kent.

AUGUST, 1864.— Agricultural Hall, London.

Second prize for " La Comtesse d'Abbeville," a French ass imported from
Picardy, 13 hands.

JULY, 1865.— Agricultural Hall, London.

First prize for " La Comtesse d'Abbeville."

Second prize for " Malta," half-bred English and Maltese.

Between 1865 and 1873 there were no shows of mules and asses held in
England.

JULY, 1873.— Royal Agricultural Society's Show, Hull.

First prize for " Don Pedro II.," a Franco-Spanish stallion ass, 14 hands, bred
by exhibitor, as the best jackass for getting mules for agricultural purposes.
Dam, " La Comtesse d'Abbeville." (Exported to South America.)

First pr/ze for the best mule for agricultural purposes; " Marshal McMahon,"
Poitou mule, 16 hands high, five years old.

MAY, 1874.— Crystal Palace Show of Mules and Asses.

Very higldy commended and commended for "Eousseau" and "Blossom,"

Poitou mules, 15.2 and 16 hands respectively, regularly used by

exhibitor for farm work.
First prize for " lago," imported Spanish ass, 14 hands, for improving English

donkeys and breeding mules.
Third prize for " Borrico," imported Spanish ass, 13.1. (Both these asses

were subsequently exported to Jamaica.)
Second prize for "Prima Donna," Spanish jenny, 13.2. (This jenny has

offspring in all four quarters of the globe.)

JULY, 1874.— Alexandra Park Horse Show

First and second prizes for "Eousseau" and "Blossom," Poitou mules,
described above.

JULY, 1874.— Royal Agricultural Society's Show, Bedford.

First prize for Spanish ass "lago," described above.

First and third prizes and reserved niunber for " Eousseau," " Blossom," and
" Eobin," Poitou mules, described above.

MAY, 1875.— Crystal Palace Show of Mules and Asses.

First and second prizes, highly- commended, and commended for " Beauty,"
17 hands ; " Brunette," 16.1 hands ; " Baron," 16.1 hands ; and " Boinot,"
15-3 hands, Poitou mules, regularly used for farm work by exhibitor.

First and third prizes for " Blossom," 16 hands, and " Sweep," 15.1 handi?,
Poitou mules, regularly used by exhibitor for trotting and dog-cart work.

(Equal) first prize for " Lad of Poitou," imported Poitou jack, for breeding
heavy draught mules, height 13.1. (Exported to the Cape of Good Hope.)

First and second prizes for "Anesse" (Poitou) and " Prima Donna" (Spanish),
the former with pure-bred Poitou jack foal at foot.

MR, C. L. SUTHERLAND'S LIST .—Continued.

JUNE, 1875. — Bath and West of England Society's Show, Croydon

First prize for " Brunette," Poitou mule, 16.1.

JUNE, 1875. — Alexandra Park Horse Show.

First and second prizes for "Beauty," 17 hands, and " Brunette," 16.1 hands,
Poitou mules.

JULY, 1875. — Royal Agricultural Society's Show, Taunton.

First prize for " Comte de Poitou," 13.2 hands, imported Poitou ass, for
getting mules for agricultural purposes. (Exported to the Cape of
Good Hope.)

First and second prizes for " Brunette," 16.1, and " Beauty," 17 hands, Poitou
mules, described above.

OCTOBER, 1877.— Dairy Show, Agricultural Hall, London.

First prize, with silver medal, for " Comte de Vitre," imported Poitou stallion

ass, 15 hands, for breeding draught mules.
Third prize for " Eanulfe, Comte de Poitou," imported Poitou ass, 13.2.

(Exported to Jamaica.)
Second prize for " Prima Donna," Spanish ass, 13.2.
First, with silver medal, and second prizes for " Brunette " and " Beauty,"

Poitou draught mules, described above, and commended for " Bravo,"

draught mule, 16 hands.
First, with bronze medal, and second prizes for " Centennial Harry," 14.2,

light American piebald mule, imported from Kentucky, and " Blossom,"

Poitou mule, 16 hands.

JULY, 1879. — Royal Agricultural Society's Show, Kilburn.

First, second, and third prizes for "Beauty," "Blossom," and " Brunette,"

Poitou draught mules, described above.
First prize for " Centennial Harry," light American piebald mule, described

above.
First prize for " Comte de Vitre," Poitou stallion ass, above described.
First prize for " Ad^le," Poitou jenny ass, 13.2.

JULY, 1881.— Alexandra Park Mule and Donkey Show.

First prize for "Brunette," Poitou heavy draught mule, 16.1.

First prize for " Belle," imported Kentucky trotting mule, 16 hands.

First prize for " Comte de Vitre," Poitou stallion ass, 15 hands.

Highly commended for "The Duke," Spanish stallion ass, imported from

Ajidalusia, 14 hands.
First prize for " Donna II.," Spanish ass, bred by exhibitor, 13.2.
Highly commended for " Adele," Poitou ass, 13.2.

JUNE, 1889. — Royal Agricultural Society's Show, Windsor.

First prize for " Malta Jack," Maltese stallion ass, 14 hands.
Second prize for" Cetywayo," Poitou-Maltese-Catalan stallion ass, 15.1, bred
by exhibitor.

Mr. Sutherland has bred and exported Poitou and Spanish asses, for
mule breediiif^, to Scotland, Ireland, Natal, Cape of Good Hope, South
America, Jamaica, Montserrat, the Fiji Islands, the United States,
British India, British Honduras, and New South Wales.

INDEX.

African Wild Ass page 11

African Ass Hybrids 14

American Mule 107

Appendix 153

Asiatic Ass Hybrids 67

Ass, Asiatic 21

Ass Hybrids 67

Ass, longevity of 18

Ayrault, M., number of Mules in Poitou 90

Ayrault, M., on infertility in Mules 81

Baggage Mules 131

Baker, Sir Samuel, on African Ass 12

Bardot 100

Bartlett, Mr., production of Bovine Hybrids 79

Baudet 101

Beaufort, Duke of, use of Mules by 145

Blanford, Mr., on Asiatic Ass 22

Browne, General Sir S., on domesticated Onagers 29

Bryden, Mr. H., on the Quagga 62

Bullock Teams 142

Burchell's Zebra 51

Burcliell's Zebra, use in Paris 143

Bureau of Animal Industry — Report on Mules 115

Catalan Jacks 116

Catberine, supposed fertile Mule 149

Chapman's Zebra 51

Churchill, Lord Randolph, African Donkeys 142

Churchill, Lord Randolph, misnomer of Burchell's Zebra 60
Clay, Hon. H. B., introduces Catalan Jacks into Maryland 111

Dzeggettai 21

162 INDEX.

Endurance of Mules in Federal Army page 125

Equus asinus 11

Equus hurchellii 51

Equus cahallus, characters of 1, 2

Equus, existing species of 1

Equus grevyi 43

Equus hemionus 21

Equus he'inippus 21

Equus przewalsTcii 7

Equus quag g a 61

Equus sotnalicus 19

Equus tceniopus 12

Equus zebra 37

Evans, Mr. J. B., on lactation in Mules 84

Ylower, Sir W., on E. grevyi 45

Flower, Sir W., organisation of the Horse 5

Flower, Sir W., on E. przewalshii 8

Food of Breeding Jacks 154

Francis, Francis, lactation in maiden Animals 83

Fossil species of Horse ... 4

Gestation, period of, in Mare 2

Gestation, period of, in Ass 14

Ghorkhur 23

Glmr 23

Gilbey, Sir Walter, notice of Wasliin-ton s Mules 107

Gordon, W. J., erroneous account of Mules 73

Grevy's Zebra 43

Grijimailo, the Brothers, on Prejevalsky's Horse 9

Hallen, CoL, on Indian Baggage Mules 133

Harrington, Mr. J. L., on riding down Onagers 25

Harris, Capt. W. Corn wallis, on mountain Zebra 39

Harris, Capt. W. Cornwallis, on Quagga 61

Hay, Major W. E., on the Kiang 32

Hayes, Capt., on Burchell's Zebra 56

Hayes, Capt., on markings of Ass 61

Hayes, Capt., on non-fertility of Mules 80

INDEX. 163

Hayes, Capt., ou tamiug the Zebra P^^Q^ 40

Hemippe 29

Hinnies 100

Hippotigris 37

Hore, Mr. Fraser S., ou Onager 23

Horse, the 1

Horse, distribution of 3

Horse Hybrids 66

Horse, period of Gestation 2

Humboldt, Baron, lactation in Man 82

Hybrid African and Asiatic Asses 14

Hybrid Equidse 65

Indian Transport Mules 129

Italian Jacks for Mule Breeding 136

Irish Jacks 140

Jacks, comparison of various Breeds 121

Jacks for Mule Breeding 119

Jennets 119

Jennets, characteristics of 146

" Jennet Jacks " 156

Jones, Mr. J. L., report on Mules 116

Kiang 21, 30

Kentucky Mules 141

Killgore, Mr., on American Mule Breeding 110

Kinloch, Colonel, on the Kiang 30

Kipling, Mr. John L., on character of Mules 74

Koulan 23

Lactation in Mule 82

Lactation in sterile Animals 83

Layard. Mr. E. L., on Chapman's Zebra 52

" Lead " desirable for Mule Teams 147

Leith, Mr. A. H., on Baggage Mules 131

Leonard, Major A. G., on Mules as Pack Animals 127

Lugard, Capt. F. D., on Transport Mules 128

Lugard, Capt. F. D., utilisation of Burchell's Zebra ... 58

M 2

164

INDEX.

Management of Mule-breeding Mares

Menx's, Sir H,, on hybrid Burcliell Zebras ...
Morgan, Mr. E. Delmar, on Prejevalsky's Horse
Morton, Mr. John Chalmers, on use of Mules
Mules, advantages of

Mule, American

Mule Batteries

Mule Breeding in India
Mule Breeding in Poitou

Mules for Military Service

Mules, non-fertility of

Mules, lactation in

Mules, longevity of

Mules, prevalent ignorance regarding

Mule, Poitou

Mule, Spanish

Mules undesirable in Breeding Paddocks

...page 122
52, 66, 143

107

129

153

127

146

151

Neumann on Grevy's Zebra
Nutt, Captain H. L., on Onager

48
23

Off-coloured Jacks

Off- coloured Jacks, inferior value of

Onager

Onagers, breaking-in

Overworking Jacks

Owen, Sir Richard, on relation of Horse to Man

138

140
23

155

Pack Mule, required size

Punjab Pack Saddle

Phillips, Mr. Lort, on Somali Ass . . .

Poitou Ass

Poitou Ass, measurements of

Poitou Asses, breeding of

Poitou Mule

Poliakof , description of, U. przewalshii

Practical remarks on Mules

Prejevalsky's Horse

102,

141
130

103

104

138

INDEX.

165

Pring'le, Tliomas, on tlie Quag-g-a pctge 62

Prizes won by Mr. C. L. Sutherland's Mules and Asses ... 159

Quagga 61

Quagga Hybrids 69

Rayment, Major, on Mule Breeding 137

Rearing Jacks for Mule Breeding 157

Rieclie, Mr., on supposed existence of Quagga 64

Rock Salt desirable for Mules 154

Rothschild, Hon. Walter, on utilisation of Burchell's Zebra 59

Selous, Mr. F. C, on Burchell's Zebra

Sclater, Mr. P. L., on E. greviji

Sclater, Mr. P. L., on Somali Ass ...

Scott, Mr. A. J., Mule bred by

Scott, Mr. A. J., Mules bred by

Smith, Col. Hamilton, on Sexes of Mules

Smith, Colonel C. Hamilton, on the Quagga

Somali Ass

Stephens, Mr. Harold, on Burchell's Zebra for draught

Sterility of Male Mule

Sutherland, Mr. 0. L., on distinctions between Ass

Horse

Sutherland, Mr. C. L., prizes taken by Mules

Supposititious Mule

Swayne, Capt. H. G-. C, on Grevy's Zebra ..
Syrian Wild Ass

and

57
43
19
93

145
73
61
19
54

150

89
81
45
29

Tarpans

Tegetmeier, Mr. W. B., on lactation in Mule
Thatcher, Mr., on Mule-breeding in China ..
Times, the, on Indian Transport Mules

83
137
129

United States, number of Mules foaled in 1889

117

Valentine, Mr. J. Tristram, on E. grevyi
Yalue of Jacks in Poitou and Kentucky
Yicious Jacks, management of

47
139
154

166

INDEX.

Warder, Mr. J. T., report on utilisation of Mules
Washington, General, on utility of Mules

Weig-ht of Mules

Wister, Col. Langhorne, on use of Mules
Wrench, Mr. Fred., on Irish Jennets

Zebra, gestation of

Zebra, Burchell's

Zebra, G-revy's ,

Zebra, Momitain

Zeedesberg, Mr. J., team of Burchell's Zebra
Zebra Hybrids

...page 113

107

146

147

... 51

Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine
Cummings School of Veterinary il^edicine at
Tufts University
200 Westboro Road
North Grafton, MA 01536

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