The obvious solution to the burdening problem was, of course, to substitute mules or horses. For these, as for nearly everything else, the friars turned to the Crown. In 1630 Francisco Alonso de Jesus boldly asked the king to donate seven cabalgaduras, or pack animals, to the missionaries of Timucua. The land was cold and swampy, he said, and some of the friars were old. The governor and treasury officials endorsed his request with the comment that the same beasts could carry the "biscuits, wine, and other things" to the doctrinas of Timucua. A cabalgadura load, called a "petate," weighed around 6 arrobas, twice as much as the load of an indio de carga. Furthermore, at the end of a day's journey, an animal could graze; the only rations to reduce its load would be those of the mule drivers (Florencia, 1694-1695; Quiroga y Losada, [1697?]b; Castaneda, 1705). (Bushnell SS)