li 



Food. — It is extraordinary what a variety of common plants 

 can be used by tlie camel as food and under what emergencies 

 he will obtain enough to support life. Tassy urges in his favour 

 as an animal for army transport that '^ the Dromedary will find 

 nourishment where a horse or ass would starve and will during 

 20 — 30 days do 36 — 40 kilometers daily with only such food as 

 he can pick up. If required to go longer a small amount of corn 

 or a few dates will suffice." The French allow Dromedaries in 

 Algeria a daily ration of 4^ lbs. grain while on the march; in the 

 Crimea 9 lbs. barley meal and 12 lbs. chopped straw was given 

 daily or in lieu of the latter 9 lbs. barley^ manifestly an improper 

 diet for a ruminant ; but the results of Camel Management in the 

 Crimea were such as to prove instructive in forewarning us against 

 similar errors in the future. 



The Regulation Diet of Transport Camels in India is : — 



In Bengal 2| annas per mensem is allowed for mussals. Pro- 

 vision is evidently made in the article of fodder for the substances 

 obtainable by browsing on the road and by grazing around the 

 Camp. Camels will remain alive and capable of a certain amount 

 of work on the food obtained by grazing alone, but on service 

 they have not sufficient time to procure fodder, also they require 

 grain food, as they are doing hard work and because they arrive 

 in camp too tired to procure their living by grazing. If a tired 

 camel is turned out to graze he is liable to poison himself by eat- 

 iug everything that comes to hand, but an absolutely fatigued 

 camel will remain hungry rather than get up and feed. However 

 it seems that camels turned out to graze seldom pick up poison- 

 ous herbs ; perhaps, also, they have an instinctive knowledge of 

 what branches and shrubs are best suited to their state of health, 

 as most other animals seem to have. Nunn informs us that in 



