116 NINTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



light for gathering his food.* It is common to start from midnight to 

 two o'clock, and to march, without halting, ten, fifteen, or sometimes 

 twent}" hours, after which the camp is formed ; and if it is not yet dark, 

 the camels are turned out to graze till sunset, when they return to the 

 camp, are hobbled, by tying up one of the folded fore legs, and rumi- 

 nate and sleep to the hour of departure. Although so long a day's 

 journey without pause is fatiguing to the rider, yet, except with light 

 dromedaries, experience is in favor of the practice. To halt without 

 unloading the camels would afibrd them no relief, but fatigue them the 

 more by practically lengthening their day's work ; and if they are un- 

 loaded and allowed to wander in search of food, the time lost in col- 

 lecting them and rearranging their burdens would bring the caravan 

 too late to the camping ground. Where, however, the party, as is the 

 case with military expeditions of a few days' length, is unaccompanied 

 by burden camels, and the dromedaries ai'e loaded with only the equip- 

 age, water, and provisions of their riders, the hours of travel and repose 

 can, without inconvenience, be arranged and varied to suit the exigen- 

 cies of the occasion. 



The question of the practicability and advantages of introducing the 

 camel into the United States for militar}^ and other purposes, is one 

 of much interest and importance ; and I hope I shall be pardoned if I 

 prolong a discourse, which I fear has proved but a dry one, for the 

 sake of suggesting some considerations upon a topic to which I have 

 devoted some attention, both at home and abroad. 



Among those who are practically familiar with the habits and pro- 

 perties of the camel, and who have studied the physical conditions of 

 our territory west of the Mississippi, there is, I believe, little or no 

 difference of opinion on the subject ; and I am persuaded that the ulti- 

 mate success of judicious and persevering effort is certain, and will be 

 attended with most important advantages. At the same time, it must 

 not be concealed that, as much depends on a point that nothing but 

 experience can determine, — the selection, namely, of the particular 

 breeds best adapted to our climate, soil, and other local conditions, — 

 the result of a first experiment, unless tried on a liberal scale, and with 

 animals of more than a single variety, is extremel}' uncertain. The 

 question must be considered under two aspects: the one regarding the 

 camel as simply a beast of burden; the other, his value as an animal of 

 war. But even if it is conceded, which I by no means admit, that the 

 organization of a proper mounted dromedar}^ corps is impracticable or 

 inexpedient, it does not, by any means, follow that the camel may not 

 be of great value in the commissariat, and in all that belongs to the 

 mere movement of bodies of men, as well as in the independent trans- 

 portation of military stores and all the munitions of war. 



The first question to be discussed is the adaptation of any variety of 

 either species to the climate and soil of any portion of our territory. 

 So far as mere extremes of temperature are concerned, it is quite cer- 

 tain that we have nowhere, west of the Mississippi, fiercer or more 

 lorifT-continued heats, more parched deserts, or wastes more destitute 

 of vegetation, than those of the regions where the Arabian camel is 



* Fraser, Khorasan, 379. 



