120 IRASCIBILITY OF THE CAMEL. 



LETTER XV. 



FROM CAROLINE TO EMILY. 



MY DEAR EMILY, 



Revenge is not confined to the monkey tribe : 

 other animals are very susceptible of this odious pas- 

 sion ; and as they are deficient in that reason which 

 is given to us to restrain our evil propensities, they 

 yield to the impulse of their feelings, without an 

 attempt to subdue them. Sonnini, who visited Egypt, 

 tells us that the camel, so distinguished for its patience 

 and forbearance, is yet sensibly affected by injustice 

 or ill-treatment. " The Arabs," says he, " assert, 

 that if a person has struck one without cause, he will 

 not find it easy to escape its vengeance; and that 

 they will retain the remembrance of it, till an oppor- 

 tunity offers of gratifying their revenge. It is said, 

 that in their fits of rage, they sometimes take up a 

 man with their teeth, throw him on the ground, and 

 trample him under their feet. Eager to revenge them- 

 selves, they no longer retain any rancour when once 

 they are satisfied ; and it is even sufficient, if they be- 

 lieve they have satiated their vengeance. According- 

 ly, when an Arab has excited the rage of a camel, he 



