Washington, according to his own account, was the first American to attempt the raising of mules.  Soon after the Revolution he asked our representative in Spain to ascertain whether it would be possible “to procure permission to extract a Jack ass of the best breed.”  At that time the exportation of these animals from Spain was forbidden by law, but Florida Blanca, the Spanish minister of state, brought the matter to the attention of the king, who in a fit of generosity proceeded to send the American hero two jacks and two jennets.  One of the jacks died on the way over, but the other animals, in charge of a Spanish caretaker, reached Boston, and Washington despatched an overseer to escort them to Mount Vernon, where they arrived on the fifth of December, 1785.  An interpreter named Captain Sullivan was brought down from Alexandria, and through him the General propounded to the caretaker many grave inquiries regarding the care of the beasts, the answers being carefully set down in writing.

[ILLUSTRATION:  Bill of Lading for “Royal Gift”]

“Royal Gift,” as he was duly christened, probably by the negro groom, Peter, who seems to have considered it beneath his dignity to minister to any but royalty, was a large animal.  According to careful measurements taken on the porch at Mount Vernon he was fifteen hands high, and his body and limbs were very large in proportion to his height; his ears were fourteen inches long, and his vocal cords were good.  He was, however, a sluggish beast, and the sea voyage had affected him so unfavorably that for some time he was of little use.  In letters to Lafayette and others Washington commented facetiously upon the beast’s failure to appreciate “republican enjoyment.”  Ultimately, however, “Royal Gift” recovered his strength and ambition and proved a valuable piece of property.  He was presently sent on a lour of the South, and while in South Carolina was in the charge of Colonel William Washington, a hero of the Cowpens and many other battles.  The profits from the tour amounted to $678.64, yet poor “Royal Gift” seems to have experienced some rough usage on the way thither, arriving lame and thin and in a generally debilitated condition.  The General wrote to the Colonel about it thus: 

“From accounts which I have received from some gentlemen in Virginia he was most abominably treated on the journey by the man to whom he was entrusted;—­for, instead of moving him slowly and steadily along as he ought, he was prancing (with the Jack) from one public meeting or place to another in a gate which could not but prove injurious to an animal who had hardly ever been out of a walk before—­and afterward, I presume, (in order to recover lost time) rushed him beyond what he was able to bear the remainder of the journey.”

No doubt the beast aroused great curiosity along the way among people who had never before set eyes upon such a creature.  We can well believe that the cry, “General Washington’s jackass is coming!” was always sufficient to attract a gaping crowd.  And many would be the sage comments upon the animal’s voice and appearance.