208 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 



Secondly, that it lias something to do with the eye of a needle. 

 Thirdly (and most positively) it is a sort of travelling reservoir, 

 consisting of inexhaustible water tanks and never needs to drink. 

 Fourthly, it has a hump and long legs aud neck. Finally, it is an 

 uncanny brute of strange habits, suited only to the wandering 

 Bedouin of the desert and the inimitable Barnum. When called on 

 in the emergencies of service to take charge of camels, the principle 

 an Englishman works on is to treat them as much as possible like the 

 beast of burden, with which he is most familiar, the horse. Where 

 this has been carried out thoroughly the results have been not 

 unsatisfactory, for when groomed regularly the camel does not get 

 mange, when properly saddled and loaded he does not get sore 

 back, and when properly fed and watered he remains serviceable 

 and does good work. It is when our soldier is given several camels 

 to take care of, and is aided only by a lot of lazy, cowardly coolies, 

 who know as little about a camel as he does, and have no intention 

 of trying to do anything whatsoever for their pay, that the poor 

 brute fails. The water- tank theory is an unfortunate one. Certaiuly 

 a camel can go for seven days without water when properly cared 

 for but he ought to be watered once a day whenever possible, and 

 stinted in this respect only in extreme emergency. There are pouches 

 in his stomach, and they are frequently, after death, found to contain 

 fluid; but that they are reservoirs pure and simple is doubtful ; and 

 it is very certain that the parched traveller who has to cut open his 

 dying camel and obtain its accumulated stores of water, will obtain 

 only a very little fluid, of a temperature of about 90° Fahr., a mawkish 

 sub-acid flavour, and an unpleasant odour. It is evident that the 

 time-honoured water-tank theory needs much modification, and is a 

 dangerous one to insist on as a guide to practice during campaigns. 

 As a matter of fact, the active and special services of camels in war 

 and peace have been most extensive and valuable. That they have 

 been associated with enormous losses is due to our ignorance and 

 mismanagement, and is decidedly not the camel's fault. In Afghan- 

 istan, the Punjab, Sind, and Beluchistan, in Abyssinia, Egypt, and 

 the Soudan, the camel has been essential to success of the operations; 

 and it is certain that when we need to fight in China, Central Asia, 

 Western Asia, Arabia, and North Africa the services of this extremely 

 valuable baggage animal will be again called for. The camel is, I 

 believe, under a cloud now in official estimation, but, like the Royal 

 Marines, he has done good service on many an occasion, and is always 



