LAMA. 



81 



destroy them. The tough and spongy feet of the Camel 

 never crack, and this patient and invaluable beast is 

 able to travel through countries entirely destitute of 

 water, for seven or eight days successively, without re- 

 quiring any liquid for its support ; and a single feed of 

 beans in the day is a sufficient supply of food for its 

 journey. All the articles of traffic of many countries 

 are conveyed from one place to another solely by means 

 of Camels. In these commercial journeys, which are 

 frequently to the distance of several hundred miles, great 

 numbers of merchants and other travellers unite, for 

 the purpose of affording assistance to each other, and in 

 order to prevent the insults and robberies of the Arabs. 

 They travel at the rate of about thirty miles a day ; and 

 at night all the Camels are unloaded, and suffered to take 

 their rest. The burden that each animal carries is 

 usually from eight hundred to a thousand pounds weight. 

 They kneel down in order to be loaded, and when this 

 is finished, at the command of their conductor they rise. 

 The animals above particularly spoken of are the Ara- 

 bian Camels, which are natives chiefly of the deserts of 

 Asia and Africa. The Bactrian, or two-hunched species, 

 are common in several parts of Persia, Siberia, and Tar- 

 tary, where they are employed as beasts of burden. 

 The flesh of the Camel, though dry and hard, is much 

 esteemed in the east. The hair is used in the manufacture 

 of a kind of cloth ; and the skins make an excellent lea- 

 ther. 



Lama. These are the Camels of South America ; and 

 in the mountainous parts of Peru and Chili, it would 

 almost be impossible to transport heavy goods from one 

 place to another, without their assistance. Almost all 

 the valuable ores are transported on their backs. And 



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