11 



eases -wliicli decimate Equidro, nevertheless tlio fiitiones of 

 expeditions canse a gi^at loss of tlicni.'^ Although wo have had 

 rtni)ilo proof of this "\vc must rcMneniber that there has never been 

 a campaign in which camels have been placed under competent 

 and ex])crienced veterinary management or indeed experienced 

 European supervision of any kind (except, perhaps, the recent 

 Suakin Camel Corps, which had little trial of service) — and no 

 animal could withstand such mismanagement and perversion of 

 its natural habits as the camel on service is generally subjected 

 to. It was remarked in Afghanistan that the officers' bag- 

 gage camels and those under regimental charge and so receiving 

 special care and attention seldom died ; and I. V. S. Meyrick 

 records his opinion, based on considerable experience, that camels 

 when well fed, rationally worked, and properly tended seldom 

 suffer from disease. That a camel when reported as diseased 

 usually dies, even under the care of a veterinary surgeon, is an 

 indubitable fact, but he is seldom so reported until the serwan 

 has exhausted his list of nostrums and the animal, as being in a 

 state of collapse, is quite unable to gx3 a step farther on his 

 journey. Thus skilled medicine very seldom gets a fair chance 

 and the camel is described as incapable of withstanding disease 

 whereas, in fact, he fights against it with such pluck as to work 

 until he drops, while the ignorant, careless, or wilfully neglectful 

 camel-man does not observe or report that anything is wrong, 

 (5) The Gamel is capable of carrying loads whiclt are lieavy, 

 and viost awkward to convey on other animals (often even in carts), 

 such as tents, tent-poles, scaling-ladders, and pontoons; and also 

 ammunition trunks and capacious medicine chests are carried by 

 him with facility. 400 lbs. is a fair average weight for a well laden 

 camel, about equivalent to that carried by two mules. The regu- 

 lation load in India is 5 maunds ; Yaldwiu estimates 4-8 maunds 

 as the carrying power; Tassy puts 330 — 660 lbs. as the weight of 

 load for a large Algerian camel, and 220 — 330 lbs. for the small 

 running camel of the Sahara. Galton estimates the net carrying 

 weight for a camel at 300 lbs. which may be considered reason- 

 able as some allowance must bo made for weight of trappings, 

 also for the exig-encies of service and the difficulties of the road. 

 Martin tells us that the large Bactrian will often carry 10 maunds 

 — but the " Handbook for Field Service" is most misleading iu 



