THE CAMEL. 4 



always composed of more camels than men. Each camel is load- 

 ed according to his strength ; the larger ones carrying from a thou- 

 sand to twelve hundred pounds weight, and the smaller, from six 

 to seven hundred. Burckhardt states that a camel can never be 

 stopped while its companions are moving on. The Arabs are 

 therefore highly pleased with a traveller who jumps off his beast, 

 and remounts without stopping it, as the act of kneeling down is 

 troublesome and fatiguing to the loaded camel, and before it can 

 rise again, the caravan is considerably ahead. He also affirms it 

 to be an erroneous opinion, that the camel delights in sandy ground. 

 It is true, he remarks, that he crosses it with less difficulty than 

 any other animal, but wherever the sands are deep, the weight of 

 himself and his load makes his feet sink into the sand at every step, 

 and he groans and often sinks under his burden. Hence, this trav- 

 eller states it to be, that camels' skeletons are found in great num- 

 bers where the sands are deepest. It is the hard gravelly ground 

 of the desert which is most agreeable to this animal. 



The Bactrian camel is distinguished from the Arabian camel or 

 dromedary, by having two bunches on his back. It is not so mi- 





merous as the other, and is chiefly confined to some parts of Asia. 

 Unlike the dromedary, whose movement, as we have seen, is re- 

 markably swift, the Bactrian carnel proceeds at a slow and solemn 

 pace. 



From the account now furnished of this animal, we may see the 

 propriety and beauty of several passages of scripture, in which it is 

 mentioned or alluded to. 

 5 



