120 NINTH ANNUAL KEPORT OF 



horses, and thus to transport mountain howitzers, light artillery, stores, 

 and other military materiel into the heart of the mountains, would 

 strike with a salutary terror the Comanches, Lipans, and other savage 

 tribes upon our borders. 



The habits of these Indians much resemble those of the nomade 

 Arabs, and the introduction of the camel among them would modify 

 their modes of lile as much as the use of the horse has done. For a 

 time, indeed, the possession of this animal would only increase their 

 powers of mischief; but it might in the long run prove the means of 

 raising them to that state of semi-civilized life of which alone their 

 native wastes seem susceptible. The products of the camel, with wool, 

 skin, and tiesh, would prove of inestimable value to these tribes, which 

 otherwise are likely soon to perish with the buffalo and odier largo 

 game anim;ils; and the profit of transportation across our inland desert 

 might have the same effect in reclaiming these barbarians which it has 

 had upon the Arabs of the Siniatic jjeninsula. 



Among the advantages of the camel for military purposes, may be 

 mentioned the economy of his original cost, as compared with the horse 

 or mule, when once introduced and fairly domesticated;* llie simplicity 

 and cheapness of his saddle and other furniture, which every soldier 

 can manufacture for himself; the exemption from the trouble and ex- 

 pense of providing for his sustenance, driving, sheltering, or shoeing 

 him; his great docility, his general freedom from disease,! l)is longevity, 

 the magnitude of his burden, and the great celerity of his movements, 

 his extraordinary fearlessness, t the safety of his rider, whether from 

 i'alls§ or the viciousness of the animal, the econoniical value of" his 

 flesii, and the applicabihty to many military purposes of his hair and 

 his skin, tlie resources which in extreme cases the milk n)ight furnish, 

 and finally his great powers of abstinence from both food and drink. || 



* The price of the camel is exceedingly low in all countries where he is bred. Except for 

 the hig-licst breed, maherries, it nowhere, except in the Crimea, exceeds fifty dollars, and is 

 in general considerably below this sum. The reason of tliis is that it costs nothing to breed 

 the animal. The dam continues to labor during the whole period of gestation, (which runs 

 according to climate, from eleven, or in some cases, ten to twelve months,) and even the 

 dropping of a foal scarcely delays her march. (Denham and Clapperton, I. c. 3, Rittcr 

 XUI, GIO.) The young requires no care and little training, and is already serviceable in his 

 third year. 



t According to the concurrent testimony of all observers, no domestic animal is so free from 

 disease as the camel. General Harlan's statement, that he is more liable to maladies than 

 the horse, is unsupported by any otiier writer, and it must rest on some local peculiarity of 

 climate or of breed. My correspondents in southern Russia describe the Bactrian as almost 

 completely exempt from all ailments. ]n Algeria the camel suffers much from the sting, or 

 more properly the oviposition of an insect; and it might be important, in importing the 

 animal from that country, to select a season when he is free from the egg and the larvte, ia 

 order to avoid introducing the insect with tlie camel. 



iCarbuccia, ^5, 168. 



§ The security of the seat, though at once felt by all who have mounted the camel, seems 

 hardly reconcilable with tlie violence of his motion, and is not easily explained ; but nothing 

 is more rare than a fall from his back. Every oriental traveller can testify that the Arabs 

 often sleep upon their camels when on the marcii, and Colonel Chesncy (Expedition to the 

 Euphrates, II, 671) and Layard give curious accoimts of t'.ie preparation and even cooking of 

 ibod on the backs of the camels by the Arab women, during forced marches. They even 

 contrive to milk the milch animals without halting. 



II The use of tiie camel has enabled tlie corps which have employed it in Algeria to dis- 

 pense altogether with a baggage train, as the animal can transport a very considerable bur 

 den, in addition to the soldier and his accoutrements, at a much more rapid rate than the 

 ordinary march of a column of infantry or artillery. 



