THE BACTRIAN CAMEL. 



523 



much more docile ; its complaints are only murmurs, not the ear-splitting 

 cries of the Dromedary. It is, however, equally stupid and cowardly. 

 A hare springing up, says Przewalski, throws it into abject terror; a 

 stone by the roadside frightens it out of its senses. It screams at the 

 sight of a wolf. It feeds on the vegetation of the steppes which other 

 animals avoid ; salt is indispensable for it ; it drinks the salt-water of the 

 brackish lakes and licks up the crystals deposited on their margins. 



The shape of the animal necessitates a peculiar saddle. Thick folds 

 ot felt are laid on the two humps, and on them is placed the framework 

 to which its load is fastened. A strong animal will carry four hundred 

 and fifty pounds a distance of about twenty miles a day. In summer 

 it can go for three, in winter for five to eight days without food or drink, 

 and it requires to rest one day in eight. The journey from Pekin to 

 Kiatka is accomplished in about a month, after which it has a rest of 

 about a fortnight ; but in the West it is never worked so hard. When 

 the hair begins to fall off it is treated more kindly ; it is covered with -felt 

 coverings, and is allowed a respite from labor. The Bactrian Camel 

 receives unceasing care. The Mongols regard it as the most fragile of 

 animals, for although it can stand tlie icy storms of the winter and the 

 toils of journey, it falls an easy victim to the climate of their summers. 

 In winter it is never unsaddled ; in summer the saddle is removed as 

 often as possible, but never before the animal has become cool. It keeps 

 up with the caravan as long as it can, but when it falls, it refuses to rise, 

 and is left to the care of the inhabitants of the nearest village. 



The height of the Bactrian Camel is rather more than that of the 

 Arabian. Its color is brown, varying into sooty-black, or dirty-white. 



