48 THE CAMEL. 



Although the Arabian camel traverses the 

 roughest routes and climbs exceedingly steep 

 ascents, yet the Bactrian and the cross between 

 the two species are even better fitted for scaling 

 difficult mountain passes. This difference is, 

 probably, partly due to habit and training ; but 

 the greater elongation of the toe of these breeds, 

 which sometimes projects beyond the cushioned 

 sole and forms a sort of claw, undoubtedly some- 

 what facilitates climbing by giving a grasp to 

 the foot-hold, for which reason the Bactrian an- 

 ciently was, and sometimes still is, called the 

 mountain camel. 



My Russian correspondents, to whom I have 

 so often referred, say that the Bactrian is chiefly 

 used for winter transportation, and that his feet 

 require no protection, but, to use their own words, 

 are so formed that he travels well not only on 

 frozen ground, but upon ice and snow.^ Tim- 

 kowski saw caravans of this breed cross a glacier ; 

 and Bergmann says that, in winter, the Calmucks 

 prefer them to horses for the saddle, because 

 their long legs enable them to wade through 



1 Carbuccia, p. 10, speaks of tlie use of leather shoes to 

 protect the foot of the camel on rocky ground, and it appears 

 from Hammer-Purgstall's Essay, p. 30, that wrappages of 

 leather are applied to the foot in Arabia as a defence against 

 the cold, which would otherwise crack or split the horny 

 Bole. 



