The mule had galloped on until he overtook the rest of the party, who had sent him back in haste, while they followed on as quickly as possible.
It flashed upon my mind that the mule understands his business.

We imagine, egotistically, that the mule is all the time thinking about us, and that he may take umbrage at some fancied slight and leap with us down the abyss.

Now the mule does not care to make the descent in that way.

He is thinking about himself just like the rest of us.

We are only so much freight packed upon his back.
The foregoing narrative may be exaggerated in some details, but the essential facts remain, that the mule has a healthy appetite and that he looks out for himself.
A little further on I had an opportunity to judge how a passenger would conduct himself if he should be thrown from the trail.