20 



■which good feeling is reciprocated. There is a prevalent idea 

 that camol men snlTrr IVom s\)\no disease and die yoinig, but I 

 don't think \vc liavo siitlicitMit evidence of the coi-rcctness of this. 

 "The gait of camels is pecnliai-," says Burnaby, " they go like 

 a ])ig with the fore and like a cow with the hind legs. The 

 nielion is deeidedly rongli." Another writer sums up the I'eel- 

 ino's and sensations induced bv a camel ride across the desert 

 as " very different from the exhilaration produced by riding a 

 horse; this is soon replaced by a feeling of extreme discomfort/' 

 Possibly the latter remarks refer only to the heavy caravan ani- 

 mal, and the light sowari dromedary, travelling his ten or twelve 

 miles an hour over the desert, may impart a less tedious and try- 

 ing sensation to his rider — at any rate the motion seems to be 

 one to which peo})le soon become used but a tight Kamar band 

 is very necessary for the rider. 



The question of Procurdhilltij of (Jamcls remains to be dealt 

 with. In this respect India labours under no difhculty — sufficient 

 numbers of camels to meet all our requirements for trade and war 

 can be obtained from internal and foreign sources of supply if 

 reasonable system be exercised. But this has not been the case 

 hitherto. When an emergency has aiisen animals of all kinds 

 have been accepted for transport ; thus camels old and worn out, 

 too young, pregnant, physically unfit, and incapacitated by dis- 

 ease were hurried towards the front in Afghanistan after having 

 been subjected to examination not even by a competent transport 

 official, much less by a Veterinary Surgeon. Now transport 

 officers are gaining considerable experience in camel management, 

 some steps are being taken for aniuuil census in India Avith a 

 view to information as to where animals available for transport 

 are procurable, and we ma}"- note Avith satisfaction the success of 

 camel supplies to the Soudan from India recently as contrasted 

 with the unsatisfactory local supply from the Nile Delta. 



As yet no measures seem to have been taken for regulation of 

 the breeding and repression of communicable diseases among 

 camels. Very much might be done to inqorovc the breeds in 

 different parts of India and to encourage mitive breeders to 

 obtain animals of the most useful stamp and to castrate weedy 

 males — possibly a stud system for obtaining a valuable breed of 

 sires would be a great gain to the country. Something in this 

 direction, has, we believe been tried at the Hissar Cattle Farm, 



