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The Kia ora coo-ee : the magazine for the ANZACS in the Middle East, 1918

Mules.—An Impression

Mules.—An Impression.

Have you ever been kicked by a mule? He is a perfect artist at placing a dirty left or right, or both if an opening offers, and when he gets home just thank your stars that he carried no shoes on His hind footprints. The trouble is you never quite know which end of a mule you have been kicked by. You may be fixing his nose bag, and later on wake up in the hospital to find your eyebrow in a sling, and a gentle Sister holding your hand—more danger!

Having thoroughly convinced yourself of the kicking capacity of a mule try starting a team of four on, a cold morning, and you will find something more obstinate than a radish to a dyspeptic. One will plunge, and another kick like blazes, while the remaining two dig their heels in the earth and look at you. Then suddenly all will pull together—in different directions. Once moving the mule pulls well and he stands hard conditions wonderfully well, but get the team stuck in a Wadi, and not a budge will you get from them until they are moved by a superior force. Such a force consists of anything from eight to ten mules in front and twenty men at the wheels. It takes at least six mules to move their comrades in distress, and the balance of power to shift the waggon.