Page:On the border with Crook - Bourke - 1892.djvu/181

 whose withers were always a mass of sores and whose hoofs were always broken and out of sorts, were as speedily as possible sold off or transferred to other uses, and in their places we saw trains of animals which in weight, size and build, were of the type which experience had shown to be most appropriate.

The "aparejos," or pack-cushions, formerly issued by the quartermaster's department, had been burlesques, and killed more mules than they helped in carrying their loads. Crook insisted upon having each mule provided with an "aparejo" made especially for him, saying that it was just as ridiculous to expect a mule to carry a burden with an ill-fitting "aparejo" as it would be to expect a soldier to march comfortably with a knapsack which did not fit squarely to his back and shoulders. Every article used in these pack-trains had to be of the best materials, for the very excellent reason that while out on scout, it was impossible to replace anything broken, and a column might be embarrassed by the failure of a train to arrive with ammunition or rations—therefore, on the score of economy, it was better to have all the very best make in the first place.

According to the nomenclature then in vogue in pack-trains, there were to be placed upon each mule in due order of sequence a small cloth extending from the withers to the loins, and called from the office it was intended to perform, the "suadera," or sweat-cloth. Then came, according to the needs of the case, two or three saddle blankets, then the "aparejo" itself—a large mattress, we may say, stuffed with hay or straw—weighing between fifty-five and sixty-five pounds, and of such dimensions as to receive and distribute to best advantage all over the mule's back the burden to be carried which was known by the Spanish term of "cargo." Over the "aparego," the "corona," and over that the "suvrin-*hammer," and then the load or "cargo" evenly divided so as to balance on the two sides. In practice, the "corona" is not now used, except to cover the "aparejo" after reaching camp, but there was a time way back in Andalusia and in the Chilean Andes when the heart of the "arriero" or muleteer, or "packer," as he is called in the dreadfully prosy language of the quartermaster's department, took the greatest delight in devising the pattern, quaint or horrible, but always gaudy and in the gayest of colors, which should decorate and protect his favorite mules. I do not know how true it is, but "Chileno John" and others told me that