INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS OF RESEARCH 147 



account of the different breeds, their habits and usefulness, the nature 

 of their diseases, the location of the best stock, the cost, the proper 

 food and the methods of transportation. One of the papers translated 

 was by Linant Bey, a French engineer in the Egyptian service, on 

 '' The Egyptian Dromedary " ; one by General J. L. Carbuccia on 

 " The Use of the Camelin Algiers." A paper by Colonel F. Columbari 

 entitled " The Zemboureks, or the Dromedary Field Artillery of the 

 Persian Army," had been translated and illustrated by Wayne in 1854. 



During the voj'age the animals were under the direct supervision 

 of Lieutenant Porter, who interested himself in the minutest details. 

 On the camel deck he posted detailed regulations to be followed in the 

 care of the camels. A " journal of the camel deck " was kept, and in 

 it every day wagon master Pay made note of every item of interest 

 concerning the animals, their ailments, feed, appetites, when they were 

 rubbed, curried, oiled, salted, etc. Some of the names are given: 

 Said, Ayesha, Gourmal, Ibrim, etc. The first young camel born on 

 board the ship was dubbed " Uncle Sam " and was trained by one of 

 the Turks as a Pehlevan, or wrestler. Four of the grown camels were 

 Pehlevans. Camel fighting was as much an oriental amusement as 

 horse racing was a Kentucky sport, and Porter thought that the Amer- 

 icans might in time come to like camel contests. 



When the weather was stormy and the ship unsteady there was 

 danger of the animals falling on the smooth deck and injuring them- 

 selves. To prevent this Porter fashioned a sort of harness for each 

 one and in rough weather made them kneel and strapped them to the 

 deck. Once they were so strapped down for seventy-two hours. 



During the voyage six calves were born. Of these only two lived; 

 the others were probably killed by the ministrations of a quack Turkish 

 camel doctor on board. Porter took care of the young camels as if 

 they had been children, and gravely wrote to Davis about their diet, 

 appetite, health, etc. Soon he was a better camel doctor than the Turk 

 and the latter was superseded. To the secretary of war Porter sent 

 some of the Turk's prescriptions : For a cold give the camel a piece of 

 cheese; for swollen legs, tea and gunpowder; cauterize frequently for 

 skin diseases; and for other complaints tickle the camel's nose with a 

 chameleon's tail, or boil a young sheep in molasses and administer half 

 of the mixture while hot. No wonder Porter was certain that Amer- 

 icans could manage camels better than the Asiatics. 



At Kingston, Jamaica, a stop was made and great numbers of 

 visitors came on board to see the camels — in one day 4,000 came. But 

 here the camels suffered so much from heat that departure was hastened. 



On April 29, 1856, the store ship reached Pass Cavallo, off Indi- 

 anola, where, it was planned, the camels were to be landed. But the 

 sea was so rough that the transfer to lighters could not be made. Porter 

 then sailed to the Balize, the southwestern mouth of the Mississippi 



