Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/327

Rh upon the model of one which had gone through the  Peninsular war, each furnished with a tree, so as to prevent the load from resting immediately upon the mule's back, and these again provided with iron hooks on each side, to which a portmanteau or bed is attached by corresponding rings and straps. In the rainy season, an oilskin cover, or tarpaulin, is thrown over the whole, and secured by a broad leather girth; this serves to keep the load steady, while breechings and a breast-piece prevent the packsaddle itself from slipping, even in the most precipitous roads. One of the trees was fitted up in a different manner from the rest, being provided with iron brackets, made to fit a canteen, which was slipped in between them, and secured by a single strap. From the moment that I adopted this system, I discarded all the clumsy Mexican "aparejos," and I had the satisfaction both of never having a mule afterwards with a sore back, and of seeing them perform their journeys with ease and convenience. My luggage generally consisted of a canteen, which contained cooking utensils, as well as a small breakfast and dinner set for four people, and formed a light load for one mule: one of Thompson's small brass camp beds, with a portmanteau to balance it, was allotted to a second mule: the third carried two boxes for wine, provisions, and other necessaries, of which we laid in a stock in the larger towns; and the fourth the beds of Dr. Wilson and Mr. Carrington, a young friend by whom I was