99 6 THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED MAMMALS 



injury to their mouths. On such a diet, or even on dates, camels will do well; but 

 when compelled to work for days with little or no food, they soon break down, as 

 was disastrously shown in the expedition to Khartum. For a few days, owing to the 

 peculiar conformation of their stomachs, camels can exist comfortably without water, 

 but their endurance in this respect is often taxed sadly beyond its natural capability. 



Although the camel is undoubtedly the most valuable and useful of all animals 

 in dry and desert countries, its disposition and temper are decidedly of the very 

 worst description. In addition to its ordinary surliness and want of attachment to 

 its master, the male camel during the pairing season is subject to almost uncon- 

 trollable outbreaks of rage; and, at the same time owing to a swelling of the 

 uvula, makes a loud bubbling noise which is most unpleasant to the human occu- 

 pants of the camp. An instance of the savage disposition of camels is afforded by 

 the habit they have, when passing a mounted man on a narrow path, of turning 

 their heads suddenly round and endeavoring to inflict a bite on the rider's arm or 

 shoulder; a camel's bite being, by the way, exceptionally severe. Writing of the 

 character of the camel, Dr. Robinson observes that "these animals are commonly 

 represented as patient, but if so, it is the patience of stupidity. They are rather 

 exceedingly impatient, and utter loud cries of indignation when receiving their 

 loads, and not seldom on being made to kneel down. They are also obstinate, and 

 frequently vicious, and the attempt to urge them forward is often very like trying 

 to drive sheep the way they do not wish to go." 



So again, Palgrave writes that " the camel takes no heed of his rider, pays no 

 attention whether he be on his back or not, walks straight on when once set 

 agoing, merely because he is too stupid to turn aside, and then should some tempt- 

 ing thorn or green branch allure him out of the path, continues to walk on in the 

 new direction simply because he is too dull to turn back into the right road. In a 

 word, he is from first to last an undomesticated and savage animal, rendered serv- 

 iceable by stupidity alone, without much skill on his master's part, or any co- 

 operation of his own save that of an extreme passiveness. ' ' 



In addition to its value as a beast of burden, the camel is also 

 esteemed by the natives of many countries on account of its milk and 

 flesh, while its hair is woven into ropes and cloth, and in some parts of India its 

 bones are used in lieu of ivory for inlaying and turning. The milk is extremely 

 thick and rich, but is unsuitable for use with tea or coffee, as it then immediately 

 curdles. From remote antiquity camels have been kept in enormous herds by 

 Eastern nations. In modern times the Arabs of the Sudan possess immense herds, 

 which in the rainy season are driven northward in thousands; and in some parts of 

 Northwestern India the number of camels kept by the natives must be very 

 large. When the young camels are too feeble to. undergo the fatigues of a day's 

 march, they are slung in nets on the backs or by the sides of some adult members 

 of the drove. But a single calf is produced at a birth, after a gestation of rather more 

 than eleven months; and the calf is suckled by the dam for at least a twelve-month. 



In the Sudan the price of a riding camel varies from about fifty to sixy-five 

 dollars, while a good baggage camel can be purchased for about, twenty dollars. 

 Young or weak camels may be bought for as little as seven dollars. 



