round them all the time, and being continually catching them for the
purpose of branding and marking.

There is, in Old as well as New Mexico, a class of mules that are known
to us as Spanish, or Mexican mules. These mules are not large, but for
endurance they are very superior, and, in my opinion, cannot be
excelled. I am not saying too much when I assert, that I have seen
nothing in the United States that could compare with them. They can,
apparently, stand any amount of starvation and abuse. I have had three
Spanish mules in a train of twenty-five six-mule teams, and starting
from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on Colonel (since General) Sumner's
expedition, in 1857, have travelled to Walnut Creek, on the Santa Fe
route, a distance of three hundred miles, in nine days. And this in the
month of August. The usual effects of hard driving, I noticed, showed
but very little on them. I noticed also, along the march, that with a
halt of less than three hours, feeding on grass that was only tolerably
thick, they will fill up better and look in better condition for
resuming the march, than one of our American mules that had rested five
hours, and had the same forage. The breed, of course, has something to
do with this. But the animal is smaller, more compact than our mules,
and, of course, it takes less to fill him up. It stands to reason, that
a mule with a body half as large as a hogshead cannot satisfy his hunger
in the time it would take a small one. This is the secret of small mules
outlasting large ones on the prairies. It takes the large one so long to
find enough to eat, when the grass is scanty, that he has not time
enough for rest and recuperation. I often found them leaving camp, in
the morning, quite as hungry and discouraged as they were when we halted
the previous evening. With the small mule it is different. He gets
enough to eat, quick, and has time to rest and refresh himself. The
Spanish or Mexican mule, however, is better as a pack animal, than for a