mules. They cared more for our comfort than
either the Arabs or Hindostani.

Next morning, as my master had deserted, I
got neither food nor water, until a white man
came into the lines and bade some other
Persians take us to the tanks. My friend, the
grey Italian, and  myself, were handed over to
an Arab who already had care of six animals.

I had been much worse cared for by the
Persian than in Spain, but until I came into
the hands of the Arab I had no idea how a man
might in some cases misbehave towards a
mule. He took no interest in seeing that we
got our full allowance of water. Once, when
he knew he was not watched, he dragged us
away from the crowd round the tanks before
we had a drop. As to our food, he gave
a good deal of it to the Shohos for firewood
and milk; the rest he would sometimes put
on the ground before us so carelessly that
the wind blew much of it away; when we had
it in nosebags he often left them over our noses
for hours after the corn was finished, until we
were nearly stifled for the want of air. He
spent his time chiefly in sleeping, cooking, and
playing cards. I remained with him fourteen
days, when one morning at the water trough I
failed to get an opportunity of drinking. Our
master, when four others had finished, pulled
us away without giving me a chance. All that
day and the next night I suffered pain from
thirst; but what was my horror when, on the
following morning, I heard the Arab tell a
companion that as the head man was away he
should spare himself for that day the trouble of
taking us to the tanks.

I saw that I must do or die; my halter rope
was, for a wonder, well tied. I begged the
grey Italian to gnaw it for me, as I had
observed him do before for other mules, and he
got through it in about half an hour.

I was now free, and made for the tanks. When
I came near the troughs I saw there was but
little chance of getting to them for two hours,
as there was a dense crowd around. As I
groaned over my ill fortune, I heard a man say,
"Catch that good looking chesnut!" An Arab
approached me, seized my halter, and led me
before an Englishman, who said " he will do."
I was handed over to a Shoho who already had
charge of two other mules, and found myself in
ten minutes at the water, to which an
approach had been cleared for the party to
which I belonged.

I was now one of a hundred mules belonging
to the artillery. My companions, though
not large, were of more than usual activity
and compactness of shape. We had only eight
Arabs to tend us, but these had little to do
beyond giving us our feeds; at which times a
white man, of whom there were five connected
with us, watched them narrowly. We had
plenty of provender, and, with one or two
exceptions, we were watered twice a day. Fifty
black natives (Shohos) used to lead us to the
tanks and clean up our lines.

The day I entered this troop, my new master
cut, with a pair of scissors, a letter on one
side of my neck, and the number, sixty-eight, on
the other. Next morning a saddle was put on
me, surmounted by a framework of iron, and I
was led to the guns. One of these was taken
to pieces, and the smallest, but heaviest, part
was placed across my saddle; a second portion
was put upon another mule, and the wheels
were laid upon a third. I took this operation
very quietly, as did also the wheel mule; but
our other friend strongly objected to being
loaded. I had the satisfaction of hearing
myself pronounced a serviceable animal. The
troublesome one, it was agreed, should be
dismissed from the artillery, and sent back to the
transport lines. The same operation was
performed with several other mules; but when
about thirty of us had been loaded, we were
unloaded and marched back.

One night two Hindostani men entered our
lines. They looked carefully at the rough hut
in which the Arabs slept. Finding these buried
in slumber, they proceeded to untie me and
three other mules, and led us off to another
part of the camp. At dawn, I, and two new
companions, were saddled, loaded, and marched
off. As soon as we got beyond the lines, my
new driver mounted me, and I had to carry
him in addition to a load of two hundred
pounds, four hours, along a sandy road, varied
only by our master's taking a doze half way,
while we had still to stand under our loads.

I had been stolen to replace another mule.
Next morning, tied to two other people of my
race and country, I was led from this camp,
which I found was called Komayle.

My load consisted of two bags of rice weighing
each seventy-five pounds, tied by ropes to a
saddle which I heard called Egyptian. Its
framework was of clumsy make; any hard work
would have broken it; it was heavy ; it hurt
my back; it was, in fact, a detestable saddle.

For the next four days I got a fair allowance
of corn, but very little grass; the road led
through a long defile and was very rough, in
one place in particular, Sooroo, where it passed
between cliffs three hundred feet high, which
shut out all view of the sun, I had to jump
from rock to rock. No easy task, for I was
attached to two companions, and our master,
save when he saw a white man in the distance,
always got upon one of us, who had thus to
carry both a load and a man.

My driver knew little about mules, and
cared less. He would generally allow us to
drink if we actually passed water on the road,
but would only go out of his way to drive us to
streams or wells, when forced to do so. I saw
him take twenty pounds of rice out of one of
the bags, which he rather skilfully sewed up
again. This lightening of my load would have
been an advantage, had the grain been taken
from both sides, but the destruction of the even
balance hurt a back already galled.

On the fourth day we climbed a considerable
hill, and reached Senafé. Here, with the
exception of one journey, which I made back to