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Literature.
to the mule—happens to fall in with a drove of mules , he will , in all probability , be kicked aud lamed by his proud relatives . A horse , on the contrary , takes a distinguished position iu a drove of mules . The latter crowd round him , aud follow his movements , exhibiting a violent jealousy , each striving to stand nearest to their high bred relative ; this instinct is employed to keep together the droves of mules , on a journey or at pasture , by putting a mare to the drove , with a bell round her neckand called the " bell mare "—by the Mexicans " la jua nuidre "
, ycr ( mother mare ) . This animal is led clay ancl night by a cord ; ancl the whole drove is thus kept under control , aud will not leave thoir queen . It is , therefore , very difficult to separate the drove . The man who leads the mare is instructed , iu case of an attack from the Indians , to leap instantly upon the back of this animal and take refuge iu the waggon encampment , whither the drove is sure to follow him . Even if tho Indians succeed in separating any from the drove , they find it difficult to
carry them off . Tho animals incessantly attempt to turn back , and the travellers are thus enabled to overtake the robbers and recover the stolen animals . The Indians , in consequence , use every means to get possession of the mare ; and if they succeed in this , the whole drove is lost to then- owners . If several horses aro iu a drove of mules , thc danger is that the latter becomes dispersed ; and this is the reason that , in these journeys , saddle horses are not allowed to go loose , but aro led by a cord .
The following is only the beginning of the journey . By degrees the mules become more manageable , but the delay which the start occasions seems to be considerable to the last : — " It is impossible to describe the scene of the first harnessing of some hundred mules , until then quite wild , and whicli have never had a bit iu their mouths , nor a saddle on their backs . The waggons are drawn up so as to form three fourths of circlewhile the left is the
a , space open entrance to the court yard of this encampment . In the intervals between them the waggons are connected by a cord tied from wheel to wheel . The mules are driven into the court , when the entrance is also closed by a cord drawn across it . Two men , armed with whips , are placed at this entrance , in order to drive back any of the mules which may attempt to leap over the cord or to creep under it . The Mexicans call this -encampmentwhich both for catching the animals
waggon , serves and as a place o £ protection from the Indians , a ' corral '—a word which signifies any yard or enclosed place where cattle are kept . Tho Anglo-Americans have changed the word into ' carrel . ' The reader may picture to himself two or three hundred wild mules crowded together in this space , with ten or fifteen men among them , each endeavouring to fling the lasso over the heads of the animals , one after another , to force the bit into their mouthsancl to lead each to its place before the to
, waggon which it has to be harnessed . In a caravan of twenty or thirty waggons , this first attempt occupies the greater part of a day , leaving no time to get the waggons iu motion . The mules well know " the lasso , and strive to escape it in every way possible ; they crowd closely together , first on one side ancl then on another of the corral , their heads turned to the centre , and hidden as much as possible ; others thrust their heads under the waggons , or between the wheels , to prevent the lasso reaching their necks
; while again , others are even more cunning ; they stand stock still , as if they were actually holding their necks patiently for the noose ; but the expression of their eye , fixed watchedly at the same time ou the man with the lasso , betrays their cunning . The man now- whirls the cord , in serpentine coils , round and round over his head ; the noose flies hissing , with the precision of au arrow , to its object ; whilst the animal stands as if rooted to the spot , but making a small side motion of its head , and the lasso misses .
"All these stratagems , however , are useless . Whilst the drove rush from , side to side of the corral , one mule after another feels the lasso twisted round its neck . Then it tears away madly into the midst of its companions , dragging the man who holds the cord from one side of the corral to the other . ' ' A second and a third now come to his aid . The hard breathing of the half strangled animal is heard amidst all the uproar and confusion of the scene . At length the men succeed in drawing the end of the cord between the spokof wheeland the animal is
es a , graduall y brought nearer and nearer to this point . As soon as it is close to the wheel , the cord is drawn round its bod y , and again pulled through the spokes , so that the whole body is brought into a noose . Thereupon the men endeavour to force the bit between its teeth , and just as they seem to have accomplished this , the animal in despair makes a hist effort ; it throws itself on the ground , frees its legs by rolling over , jumps up , and with the noose still tihtldrawn round its neckdisappears iu the
gy , thickest of the drove . The chase now begins anew , until the animal has i second noose around its neck : half strangled , it is now flung on the ground and mastered by forcible means , until the bit is in its mouth , Md the cord , with a second noose , fixed round its nostril . U pon this it js let out of the corral ; and now begins the attempt to put it to , ancl harness it to the waggon . The creature again makes the most violent struggles andconsidering that in this ten animals to
; , manner are put ev f'y carriage , and that this operation goes on in different parts of tho corral , and before twenty or thirty waggons , the reader may form an Uea of the confusion ofthe whole scene . When trying to put them to , ae animals entangle themselves in the harness , fling themselves on the rn * " tp tram l u l and hick one another , sometimes break loose and un ott with part of the harness , the Mexicans in pursuit mounted on « swiftest horses jn the caravan . The mule , with the draught chains
clattering at its heels , gallops madly on till the noose is again round its neck , when it is brought in aud harnessed anew , " When at length all the waggons are in readiness , the corral is opened ; the supernumerary animals are let out , with the bell mare , aud the caravan is ready to start . The mules are now for the first time put to draught ; for the first time they feel the bridle aud lash of the driver , who takes his place on the saddled mule . " Fresh confusion 1 Here it is impossible to get the team to move ;
there another team tries to run away with its waggon ; here one pair of mules make a desperate effort to advance , whilst a second pair holds back ; there the leaders turn sharp round , drag the next pair after it , and threaten to snap the axletree . Here an animal fells , there a chain breaks . Amidst tho cracking of whips aud shouting aud swearing of tha drivers , at last one team gets into a regular pace , when suddenly they strike off from the beaten road , dragging the waggon into a morass or wedging it fast between ' trees . The broken harness has to be mended ,
the waggon has to be ' dragged out of the morass , the tree standing in the way has to be felled /; before all this is accomplished another waggon is in a similar' plight ! j Thus the clay passes in the utmost fatigue ancl excitement , both to man aud beast , until , in the evening , a new corral is formed , with great trouble , perhaps , scarcely a thousand yards distant from the former . The animals are unyoked , ancl driven to grass and water , aud the men after lighting their fires , set about satisfying their hunger and thirst . \
" The next morning matters are somewhat improved : in many the obstinate nature of the animal is subdued , and the men have begun to learn their disposition . The yoking and harnessing is accomplished in three or four hours , and the caravan succeeds in proceeding a few miles . Under the most favourable circumstances , however , the yoking a caravan
of twenty or thirty waggons takes at least an hour and a half . Mr . Froebel furnishes us with an amusing sketch of a Nicaraguan doctor , Doctor Matagente , or men-killer as he was called by his compatriots—the said doctor having plunged in German metaphysics , and transferred them to the politics of Nicaragua : — " But he was of a metaphysical turn of mind , feeling himself greatly attracted by the mysteries of German philosophy , into which he had
been initiated by some French books that had found their way to Nicaragua . The ' Germans , ' he observed , ' have a great philosopher named Ichlejel , who has written a book bearing the title of ' Philosophy of Life . ' They have another great philosopher called Hegel , but this one is too difficult to be understood . ' ' Los Alenianes , ' he continued in an enthusiastic strain , ' son la nacion la mas scientifiea , la mas filosifiea , la mas profunda V a compliment I was not prepared to hear paid to the German nation in these quarters of the worldbut whichconsidering
; , that we had no man like Mr . Chatfield to make us respected in Central America , I thought a great consolation . The doctor's brother , the politician , is the author of several pamphlets printed in Nicaragua . In reading one of them , it struck me how schools and systems of philosophy , even without being understood , extend their influence over the world , and how even the most abstract metaphysician in Germany should never forget—and especially if he should have the misfortune of being translated into French—that ho may cause some mischief in Nicaragua . Tho
Nicaragua !! writer I am speaking of , the brother of the admirer of Schlegel and Hegel , is the author of an essay on the Nicaragua !! revolution , in which he quotes Tacitus anil Puffendorf , Ancillou and Vattel , Guizot and Louis Blanc , Madame de Stael and Montesquieu , Droz and Matter , Necker and Mirabeau , and speaks of idealism and antagonism , aspirantism and dualism , proselytism , anachronism , and several other equally dangerous principles . '
The account of Mexico g iven by our traveller is very curious . The perpetual war raging there as one dictator is supplanted by another recalls to the mind of the classical student the struggles between the Greeks of the lower empire and the Mongols and Turks . There is , however , one very important custom , which more enlightened nations might adopt with advantage , in the relation of insolvent debtor to the creditor , the latter claiming
the services of the former , and the debtor , without compulsion , honorably renders them , as in the following scene : — " A respectable man iu Tenwjsauhic had from time to time bought goods of Lou Guillermo iu Chihuahua , who had never hesitated to ^ give him credit for a few hundred dollars , and the debt was always paid at the expiration of the term . The man died , and bis son came to Chihuahua with a letterwritten apparentlbhis ding fatherin which
, y y y , he requested the merchant to show his son the same kindness ho had displayed to him . Lou Guillermo willingly granted tho request , the young man took goods for a few hundred dollars ; three years elapsed , no payment was made , and nothing was heard of the young man , and now his creditor appears suddenly in Temdsachic . 'Where does Natividad Andrada live ? ' asked Don Guillermo of the first person we met as we rode into the village' There is his mother ' s house' was the answer .
. , ' Is Natividad at home ? ' ' No , sir . ' ' Is he in the neighbourhood ? ' ' He is in the village . ' ' Let him be called ; I must speak to him . ' In two minutes he came . He was a young man of more than middle height , well formed , and with good regular features , on which an irregular life now began to show its traces . ' Natividad , ' said Don Guillermo to him , ' as you have not come to me , I have been obliged to come to you . Why haye I never seen you again in Chihuahua ! ' 'I was unable to
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Literature.
to the mule—happens to fall in with a drove of mules , he will , in all probability , be kicked aud lamed by his proud relatives . A horse , on the contrary , takes a distinguished position iu a drove of mules . The latter crowd round him , aud follow his movements , exhibiting a violent jealousy , each striving to stand nearest to their high bred relative ; this instinct is employed to keep together the droves of mules , on a journey or at pasture , by putting a mare to the drove , with a bell round her neckand called the " bell mare "—by the Mexicans " la jua nuidre "
, ycr ( mother mare ) . This animal is led clay ancl night by a cord ; ancl the whole drove is thus kept under control , aud will not leave thoir queen . It is , therefore , very difficult to separate the drove . The man who leads the mare is instructed , iu case of an attack from the Indians , to leap instantly upon the back of this animal and take refuge iu the waggon encampment , whither the drove is sure to follow him . Even if tho Indians succeed in separating any from the drove , they find it difficult to
carry them off . Tho animals incessantly attempt to turn back , and the travellers are thus enabled to overtake the robbers and recover the stolen animals . The Indians , in consequence , use every means to get possession of the mare ; and if they succeed in this , the whole drove is lost to then- owners . If several horses aro iu a drove of mules , thc danger is that the latter becomes dispersed ; and this is the reason that , in these journeys , saddle horses are not allowed to go loose , but aro led by a cord .
The following is only the beginning of the journey . By degrees the mules become more manageable , but the delay which the start occasions seems to be considerable to the last : — " It is impossible to describe the scene of the first harnessing of some hundred mules , until then quite wild , and whicli have never had a bit iu their mouths , nor a saddle on their backs . The waggons are drawn up so as to form three fourths of circlewhile the left is the
a , space open entrance to the court yard of this encampment . In the intervals between them the waggons are connected by a cord tied from wheel to wheel . The mules are driven into the court , when the entrance is also closed by a cord drawn across it . Two men , armed with whips , are placed at this entrance , in order to drive back any of the mules which may attempt to leap over the cord or to creep under it . The Mexicans call this -encampmentwhich both for catching the animals
waggon , serves and as a place o £ protection from the Indians , a ' corral '—a word which signifies any yard or enclosed place where cattle are kept . Tho Anglo-Americans have changed the word into ' carrel . ' The reader may picture to himself two or three hundred wild mules crowded together in this space , with ten or fifteen men among them , each endeavouring to fling the lasso over the heads of the animals , one after another , to force the bit into their mouthsancl to lead each to its place before the to
, waggon which it has to be harnessed . In a caravan of twenty or thirty waggons , this first attempt occupies the greater part of a day , leaving no time to get the waggons iu motion . The mules well know " the lasso , and strive to escape it in every way possible ; they crowd closely together , first on one side ancl then on another of the corral , their heads turned to the centre , and hidden as much as possible ; others thrust their heads under the waggons , or between the wheels , to prevent the lasso reaching their necks
; while again , others are even more cunning ; they stand stock still , as if they were actually holding their necks patiently for the noose ; but the expression of their eye , fixed watchedly at the same time ou the man with the lasso , betrays their cunning . The man now- whirls the cord , in serpentine coils , round and round over his head ; the noose flies hissing , with the precision of au arrow , to its object ; whilst the animal stands as if rooted to the spot , but making a small side motion of its head , and the lasso misses .
"All these stratagems , however , are useless . Whilst the drove rush from , side to side of the corral , one mule after another feels the lasso twisted round its neck . Then it tears away madly into the midst of its companions , dragging the man who holds the cord from one side of the corral to the other . ' ' A second and a third now come to his aid . The hard breathing of the half strangled animal is heard amidst all the uproar and confusion of the scene . At length the men succeed in drawing the end of the cord between the spokof wheeland the animal is
es a , graduall y brought nearer and nearer to this point . As soon as it is close to the wheel , the cord is drawn round its bod y , and again pulled through the spokes , so that the whole body is brought into a noose . Thereupon the men endeavour to force the bit between its teeth , and just as they seem to have accomplished this , the animal in despair makes a hist effort ; it throws itself on the ground , frees its legs by rolling over , jumps up , and with the noose still tihtldrawn round its neckdisappears iu the
gy , thickest of the drove . The chase now begins anew , until the animal has i second noose around its neck : half strangled , it is now flung on the ground and mastered by forcible means , until the bit is in its mouth , Md the cord , with a second noose , fixed round its nostril . U pon this it js let out of the corral ; and now begins the attempt to put it to , ancl harness it to the waggon . The creature again makes the most violent struggles andconsidering that in this ten animals to
; , manner are put ev f'y carriage , and that this operation goes on in different parts of tho corral , and before twenty or thirty waggons , the reader may form an Uea of the confusion ofthe whole scene . When trying to put them to , ae animals entangle themselves in the harness , fling themselves on the rn * " tp tram l u l and hick one another , sometimes break loose and un ott with part of the harness , the Mexicans in pursuit mounted on « swiftest horses jn the caravan . The mule , with the draught chains
clattering at its heels , gallops madly on till the noose is again round its neck , when it is brought in aud harnessed anew , " When at length all the waggons are in readiness , the corral is opened ; the supernumerary animals are let out , with the bell mare , aud the caravan is ready to start . The mules are now for the first time put to draught ; for the first time they feel the bridle aud lash of the driver , who takes his place on the saddled mule . " Fresh confusion 1 Here it is impossible to get the team to move ;
there another team tries to run away with its waggon ; here one pair of mules make a desperate effort to advance , whilst a second pair holds back ; there the leaders turn sharp round , drag the next pair after it , and threaten to snap the axletree . Here an animal fells , there a chain breaks . Amidst tho cracking of whips aud shouting aud swearing of tha drivers , at last one team gets into a regular pace , when suddenly they strike off from the beaten road , dragging the waggon into a morass or wedging it fast between ' trees . The broken harness has to be mended ,
the waggon has to be ' dragged out of the morass , the tree standing in the way has to be felled /; before all this is accomplished another waggon is in a similar' plight ! j Thus the clay passes in the utmost fatigue ancl excitement , both to man aud beast , until , in the evening , a new corral is formed , with great trouble , perhaps , scarcely a thousand yards distant from the former . The animals are unyoked , ancl driven to grass and water , aud the men after lighting their fires , set about satisfying their hunger and thirst . \
" The next morning matters are somewhat improved : in many the obstinate nature of the animal is subdued , and the men have begun to learn their disposition . The yoking and harnessing is accomplished in three or four hours , and the caravan succeeds in proceeding a few miles . Under the most favourable circumstances , however , the yoking a caravan
of twenty or thirty waggons takes at least an hour and a half . Mr . Froebel furnishes us with an amusing sketch of a Nicaraguan doctor , Doctor Matagente , or men-killer as he was called by his compatriots—the said doctor having plunged in German metaphysics , and transferred them to the politics of Nicaragua : — " But he was of a metaphysical turn of mind , feeling himself greatly attracted by the mysteries of German philosophy , into which he had
been initiated by some French books that had found their way to Nicaragua . The ' Germans , ' he observed , ' have a great philosopher named Ichlejel , who has written a book bearing the title of ' Philosophy of Life . ' They have another great philosopher called Hegel , but this one is too difficult to be understood . ' ' Los Alenianes , ' he continued in an enthusiastic strain , ' son la nacion la mas scientifiea , la mas filosifiea , la mas profunda V a compliment I was not prepared to hear paid to the German nation in these quarters of the worldbut whichconsidering
; , that we had no man like Mr . Chatfield to make us respected in Central America , I thought a great consolation . The doctor's brother , the politician , is the author of several pamphlets printed in Nicaragua . In reading one of them , it struck me how schools and systems of philosophy , even without being understood , extend their influence over the world , and how even the most abstract metaphysician in Germany should never forget—and especially if he should have the misfortune of being translated into French—that ho may cause some mischief in Nicaragua . Tho
Nicaragua !! writer I am speaking of , the brother of the admirer of Schlegel and Hegel , is the author of an essay on the Nicaragua !! revolution , in which he quotes Tacitus anil Puffendorf , Ancillou and Vattel , Guizot and Louis Blanc , Madame de Stael and Montesquieu , Droz and Matter , Necker and Mirabeau , and speaks of idealism and antagonism , aspirantism and dualism , proselytism , anachronism , and several other equally dangerous principles . '
The account of Mexico g iven by our traveller is very curious . The perpetual war raging there as one dictator is supplanted by another recalls to the mind of the classical student the struggles between the Greeks of the lower empire and the Mongols and Turks . There is , however , one very important custom , which more enlightened nations might adopt with advantage , in the relation of insolvent debtor to the creditor , the latter claiming
the services of the former , and the debtor , without compulsion , honorably renders them , as in the following scene : — " A respectable man iu Tenwjsauhic had from time to time bought goods of Lou Guillermo iu Chihuahua , who had never hesitated to ^ give him credit for a few hundred dollars , and the debt was always paid at the expiration of the term . The man died , and bis son came to Chihuahua with a letterwritten apparentlbhis ding fatherin which
, y y y , he requested the merchant to show his son the same kindness ho had displayed to him . Lou Guillermo willingly granted tho request , the young man took goods for a few hundred dollars ; three years elapsed , no payment was made , and nothing was heard of the young man , and now his creditor appears suddenly in Temdsachic . 'Where does Natividad Andrada live ? ' asked Don Guillermo of the first person we met as we rode into the village' There is his mother ' s house' was the answer .
. , ' Is Natividad at home ? ' ' No , sir . ' ' Is he in the neighbourhood ? ' ' He is in the village . ' ' Let him be called ; I must speak to him . ' In two minutes he came . He was a young man of more than middle height , well formed , and with good regular features , on which an irregular life now began to show its traces . ' Natividad , ' said Don Guillermo to him , ' as you have not come to me , I have been obliged to come to you . Why haye I never seen you again in Chihuahua ! ' 'I was unable to