25
regret it as the Persian donkey is a coarse lethargic animal not well calculated to
get good mules.
141. I was only able to purchase 12 Country-breds this year, 6 of which
were full grown and 6 were youngsters which will be run at Babugarh for a year
or two. The number is small, but this is attributable to the fact that so many
were taken for the Tirah Expedition. The quality and size are, I am glad to say,
improving, and I have issued strict orders that none but the best Jacks are to be
used, as, in some instances, I found that an inferior donkey was being used for
donkey-breeding as he refused to cover pony mares.
142. The price of these Country-bred Jacks is increasing yearly. This may
be accounted for by the improvement which has taken place in their quality and
size. Formerly Rs. 100 was the limit of price, but now Rs. 200 and Rs. 300 are
frequently asked and any reduction is refused. When this is the case, however, I
know that the reason is that the Jack is a good sire, and that the owner is paid
from 8 annas to one rupee for each covering. I, therefore, do not press his sale for
I know that he is likely to cover a number of mares in his owner's hands.
143. The question of the supply of donkey stallions is a most difficult one,
and in a letter to the Government of India, I pointed out that irrespective of a
suggestion which I have made to increase the breeding of Transport mules, and
which would require a further supply of 25 for the next 3 years, we should be in a
position to obtain 101 Jacks during the present year. This number is required to
complete establishment, and to replace a number of very old donkeys which have
to be kept at work owing to the fact that others are not obtainable. As the
supply of both Ordnance and Transport mules is a question of the highest import-
ance, I have addressed the Government of India with reference to the future
supply of Jacks and feel confident that the matter will receive full consideration at
their hands.
Number of mules
purchased by
Government.
144. Table X will show the number of mules purchased by Government.
The Remount Department bought 155 in India and 16 in Burma or a total of 171
against 397 last year. This is due to the large purchases made in Italy which, from our
point of view, is to be regretted, as a large number of most excellent mules remained
unpurchased in this country—vide review on Rawalpindi Horse Show (page 63).
145. The number actually purchased by the Commissariat Department is
uncertain as ponies and mules are classed together; of these, over 15,000 were
bought, and the majority of these were mules.
146. If only a more continuous policy were adopted, and if breeders could
assure themselves that they would obtain a ready sale, mule-breeding would be
even more popular than it is.
Supply of Ord-
nance mules.
147. It was with great regret that I heard that it was found necessary to
send to Italy to purchase 250 Ordnance mules. I greatly regretted the fact
because it sent money out of the country which would have encouraged mule-
breeding materially had it been found possible to expend it in India ; and again,
from my experience of mules obtained from Southern Europe, I am of opinion that
for stamina, pluck, powers of endurance and docility, they cannot be compared with
the short-legged Punjabi mule ; the former may be bigger and more showy, but I
doubt whether they will be found as reliable on a hard day on hill sides, as the
Punjabi. In the high opinion I have formed of the Punjabi mule, I am glad to
find that I am borne out by the Director, Army Remount Department, who in a
letter to the Government of India, Military Department, No. 1263, dated 25th
October 1897, in which he advocates the purchase of mules at an earlier age,
states :—
"The mules obtainable in the Punjab, as frequently shown, are of excellent quality and I doubt whether
animals for the purpose required can be obtained from abroad. They are, moreover, forthcoming in large numbers,
and the supply is annually improving. The difficulty as with Country-bred horses, however, is that they can only be
obtained immature, and are therefore quite unfit for immediate issue."
148. All this, however, will I trust be a thing of the past, and I sincerely
hope that the day is far distant when the Government of India will be compelled
to seek its supply of mules from abroad. I am addressing a Circular to both
Superintendents of the Punjab as well as to the Superintendent, Baluchistan, who
has lately taken over Sind, pointing out the future policy which is to be adopted
with reference to the purchase of a much larger number of mules annually at ages
ranging from 2 years and upwards, and I am urging upon them the necessity of
endeavouring to induce breeders to have better mares covered than they have hitherto
done.