114 NINTH ANNUAL REPORT OP 



smalJ. The hcdjin, a dromedary of the upper Nile, on the contrary, is 

 much taller, frequently, I am sure, not much below eight feet ; and the 

 maherry of the great desert is taller still. Lyon speaks of a Tibboo 

 maherry of seven feet eight inches as small; and on one occasion a dro- 

 medary of this variety, measuring not less than nine feet and a half, 

 was brought to the camp of Captain Denham.* 



The most common colors of the camel are mouse, drab, and fawn ; 

 but black and white animals occur, ruid a very delicate and pleasing 

 rose tint is not uncommon among the high-bred dromedaries of the 

 greater Arabian peninsula. 



The milk of the camel is a very favorite drink in all countries where 

 the animal is used, and it is highly salubrious and nutritious. Some 

 tribes possessing large herds live wholly upon it during a great part of 

 the year, and it is very frequently given to favorite horses, which are 

 extremely fond of it.t My own curiosity never led me to taste it, but 

 the ladies of my party drank it constantly for many weeks, and found it 

 both agreeable and refreshing; though, when the pasturage was particu- 

 larly dry and spicy, they thought it rather too highly flavored with the 

 aromatic savors with which, as poets sing, even the air is charged in 

 Araby the blest. The quantity given in the desert without green food 

 is small, certainly not exceeding a quart; but the Bactrian camel, which 

 enjoys in general a more succulent diet, yields twice as much. 



The utility of the camel does not cease with his life. His flesh, 

 especially the hump and heart, is a favorite food among all camel- 

 drivers, and when the animal is in good case it is described as little 

 inferior to beef"; but in the desert the camel is seldom killed until it is 

 almost ready to die of exhaustion, and European travellers have found 

 it in that condition tough and ill-tasted. The skin varies in thickness 

 and strength with the breed, and is found of all qualities fi-om that of 

 the horse to the toughness and solidit}^ of sole leather. Athough I have 

 seen camels regularl}^ sheared, yet, in general, the hair is wrenched off 

 by hand at the time of shedding the coat. In southern latitudes the 

 quantity is small, and the fibre short and coarse ; but the Bactrian 

 yields a fieece weighing ten pounds, of longer and finer fibre ; and 

 there are varieties ni the basin of the Caspian with long silivy hair 

 scarcely inferior in quality and value to the wool of the Cashmere and 

 Thibet goat. These breeds would be well worth introducing for the 

 fleece alone. | The tallow is hard and firm, and for candles scarcely 

 inferior to spermaceti or wax,§ and the bones would, no doubt, be 

 found of value in the arts. 



The Arab holds the camel and the date-palm to have been formed 

 out of the same clay as our common father Adam, and to have pro- 

 ceeded more immediately fixim the hand of the Creator than any other 

 quadruped or tree ; and he believes he shall meet them again in Para- 



* Lyon : Travels in Africa, 313. f Denham and Clapperton, I, 169. 



J Fatlier Hue. (American edition,) L chap. 9, Ritter XIH, 676, 654. Erman, Reisen, L 

 19y, spealis of the camel's hair shawls brought to the fair of Nishnci Novgorod from Bokhara 

 as of the most extraordinary tineness and beauty. They are made of the hair or rather 

 wool combed from the belly of tlie animal, and spun into yarn as fine as human hair, and 

 ai'o sold at higher prices tlian the most delicate Cashmeres. 



§ Carbuccia, 82— Ritter XIII, G92. 



