at Annapolis, Md., in September, 1861, under Captain Santelle, A.Q.M.
They are now in fine condition, and equal to any thing we have in the
corral. The leaders are very fine animals. They are fourteen hands high,
one weighing eight hundred, and the other eight hundred and forty-five
pounds. One of the middle leaders weighs nine hundred, the other nine
hundred and forty-seven pounds, and fourteen hands and a half high.



CHAPTER IV. DISEASES MULES ARE LIABLE TO.--WHAT HE CAN DRAW, ETC., ETC.


The committee also say that the mule is a more steady animal in his
draft than the horse. I think this the greatest mistake the committee
has made. You have only to observe the manner in which a dray or
heavily-loaded wagon will toss a mule about, and the way he will toss
himself around on the road, to be satisfied that the committee have
formed an erroneous opinion on that point. In starting with a load, the
mule, in many cases, works with his feet as if they were set on a pivot,
and hence does not take so firm a hold of the ground as the horse does.
I have never yet seen a mule in a dray or cart that could keep it from
jolting him round. In the first place, he has not the power to steady a
dray; and, in the second place, they never can be taught to do it. In
fine, they have not the formation to handle a dray or cart. What, then,
becomes of the idea that they are as steady in drays or teams as the
horse.

The committee also say that mules are not subject to such ailments as
horses--spavin, glanders, ringbone, and bots. If I had the committee
here, I would show its members that every other mule in the