THE PACK-CAMEL. 519 



" Never in circus, pantomime, or show, have I seen anything half so 

 ludicrous as the Camel's appearance at that moment. His upper lip is 

 curled back from the teeth, his under lip doubles up and drops down as 

 though he had no further use for it, his great mouth opens so wide that 

 one can see about half a yard down his throat ; and out of the cavern 

 thus revealed come a series of the most astonishing howls that ever 

 startled the air — howls of such abject misery that it is difficult to avoid 

 the conclusion that the Camel's heart is breaking ; and this impression is 

 strengthened by the tears that flow copiously down the wailing animal's 

 elongated cheeks, and drip from the end of his nose. In the utterance of 

 each note of woe, the Camel seems to be exerting the utmost power of 

 his lungs, but he is all the time holding a large force in reserve, and as 

 the driver adds box after box to the pile on his back, a howl more 

 resonant and heart-rending than the last testifies to each addition to the 

 creature's misery ; and never, except when he is absolutely engaged in 

 trumpeting his agonies into space, are the great watery eyes of the 

 Camel removed from the person of his persecutor ; they follow him 

 wherever he goes, and express through their tears contempt, indignation, 

 astonishment, and dismay. I think it must have been this extraordinary 

 habit on the part of the ' ship of the desert ' that gave rise to the well- 

 known expression : ' It's the last straw that breaks the Camel's back.' 

 But the Eastern driver has no fear of any such catastrophe, and piles up 

 the load until it reaches almost the proportions of an elephant's burden. 

 Then, the cases being bound fast with ropes, the Camel is told to rise, 

 and the animal, feeling that he has conscientiously done his whole duty 

 by entering his protest at every stage of the work, contentedly accepts 

 the unavoidable result, stops his tears, suppresses his cries, gets up on 

 his feet, and, resuming his occupation of chewing the cud, is ready for 

 the week's march that usually lies before him." 



Brehm describes the Camel as the most unamiable, stupid, obstinate, 

 and bad-tempered creatui"e that can be imagined. Compared with it an 

 ox is sensible, a mule is docile, an ass a loveable animal. Maliciousness 

 and stupiditv are the bases of its character ; cowardice, wrong-headed- 

 ness, irrational obstmacy, ingratitude, and a hundred other vices must 

 be added to fill up the picture. The Camel exhales an odor nearly as 

 offensive as the skunk's, his cries torture the ear, and its unspeakably 

 dull-looking head on its long ostrich-like neck do not conciliate one's 

 regard. When we know that no Camel ever shows the slightest affcc- 



