BOBBERY" CAMEL. 191 



the load under him, whilst mounting on the roof seems 

 the only way of moving the top load. The patient camel 

 himself eventually solves the problem by kicking off the 

 first and bucking down the second. 



At the next attempt the cartridge-box is tied alone on 

 one side, whilst all our bedding is piled up on the other. 

 The effect is certainly odd, but the loads balance fairly 

 well, and I should have passed it. Not so the camel-men ; 

 and they improve matters by putting the cartridge-box 

 inside another roll of bedding. Camels two, three, four, 

 and five, are then slowly packed, all subject to various 

 little accidents, repacking, and other complications. The 

 camel-men have only been at the trade all their lives, as 

 have their fathers and grandfathers back to the time of 

 Noah ; so perhaps they cannot be expected to have yet 

 mastered the secret of packing their animals. In other 

 respects, generations of companionship have produced 

 strange similarities of temperament. " Who drives fat oxen 

 should himself be fat : " and the camel-man has imbibed 

 much of the obstinate stupidity of his camel. 



We met a young soldier at Lahore the other day who 

 told us he was there to receive transport instructions. 

 When I asked what he was learning, he said " to pack 

 camels." I felt inclined to quote Arthur Cecil in The 

 Cabinet Minister : "If you wish to keep temper, con- 

 science, and honour unimpaired, don't be a politician ! " 



