NUMBERS OF THE CAMEL. 163 



goods between Cairo and Suez, and travellers 

 from Egypt to Palestine, as well as in the rapidly- 

 extending commerce between the North African 

 seaports and central Africa. These varied 

 sources of gain are no doubt more than an 

 equivalent for the loss sustained by the reduced 

 numbers of the pilgrim caravans to Mecca, for 

 though as many camels are not now at any one 

 time required, yet the demand extends through 

 the year, and the prices paid for conveyance 

 and transportation are much higher than they 

 formerly were. 



The multiplication of the camels possessed 

 by a sheikh or a tribe, finds natural limits and 

 checks in the difficulty of procuring an adequate 

 supply of fodder for more than a certain number, 

 within the territory of the tribe, and of protect- 

 ing the animals against the thieves who are 

 always lurking about the frontier to pick up 

 estrays, or to make a bold dash and drive off a 

 herd. The desert camels are branded, usually 

 oh the neck and left shoulder, every tribe and 

 every family having its own mark, not so much 

 to enable the owner to recognize a beast which 

 may have been eloigned from him, and which 

 he knows by natural tokens as well as if it were 

 his child, but to serve as an evidence of property 

 by which he may establish his rights, to the sat- 

 isfaction of others. 



