CHAPTER XVIII. 



MILITARY USES OF THE CAMEL. 



The ancient Asiatics, and, at a later period, 

 the Romans, made a very extensive use of the 

 dromedary in war, not only for the transporta- 

 tion of men and munitions, but as technical 

 cavalry in actual combat. 



Herodotus, Xenophon, Livy, Pliny the elder, 

 Diodorus, Herodian, Procopius, and other an- 

 cient authors, speak of the military uses of the 

 camel, in terms which show that he was em- 

 ployed in war to an extent only inferior to the 

 horse ; and it does not appear that there is any- 

 thing in his constitution or habits which in any 

 degree unfits him for rendering essential service 

 in modern warfare. The Bactrian is still em- 

 ployed in Persia, Bokhara, and Tartary, for 

 military purposes, and especially for the con- 

 veyance of light pieces of artillery, which are 

 mounted between the humps, and used in that 

 position, the camel kneeling while the gun is 

 loaded, aimed, and fired. Burckhardt saw the 



