132 



THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA. 



by Turkomans, Mongols, and Kirghiz, has 

 to endure very severe winters, that much 

 less care is bestowed in selection than in the 

 case of the dromedaries ; and, finally, that it is 

 employed almost solely as a beast of burden 

 in the trade between China and the countries 

 of the West. Manifestly the Bactrian camel 

 is the original breed. It is said that north 

 of Tibet there are animals which have be- 

 come wild, but we have no precise and trust- 

 worthy accounts of these. It is certain that 

 the camel is originally a native of Asia; that 

 the Semites, for whom it is a necessary con- 

 dition of life at the present day, were not yet 

 acquainted with it in the earliest antiquity; 

 that it was nevertheless introduced into 

 Egypt 1400 years before the beginning of 

 the Christian era; that mention is made of 

 it at the very commencement of the Bible 

 narrative, that the Egyptian name for it is 

 the same as the Hebrew, the name from 

 which the word camel itself comes, and that 

 the Semites introduced it into northern Africa 

 and the Sahara, while it already lived in the 

 Soudan in the preceding epoch, from which 

 we have figures of it showing that it was 

 then in Egypt. 



But however that may be, it is certain 

 that the word dromedary is unknown to the 

 African tribes, who rear only the single- 

 humped camel; and everywhere in Africa 

 this species is called by the Europeans camel, 

 by the Arabs jemmel. But the latter dis- 

 tinguish several races, some of which, used 

 only for riding on, are known as meharis, 

 and compared with animals used to carry 

 burdens are as much more highly esteemed 

 as noble racers are, compared with draught- 

 horses. The mehari, excellent sires of which 

 are reared by the Tuaregs of the Sahara, 

 has very long slender legs, a short-haired 

 glossy coat, expressive eyes, and stands in 

 high repute on account of its fleetness, which 

 surpasses that of the best horses, since the 

 speed can be maintained longer. 



The camel is certainly an animal wonder- 



fully adapted to a life in the steppes and 

 deserts. The colour of its coat, a yellowish- 

 fawn colour or brown, is suited to that of the 

 ground; only with difficulty can a recumbent 

 camel with its long neck stretched out on 

 the ground be distinguished from a mass of 

 rock. Its moderation as regards food is quite 

 proverbial. In case of need it feeds on the 

 tough spiny plants which the desert produces, 

 and even devours them with delight when 

 incrusted with salt proceeding from the ex- 

 halations of the desert. When it is able to 

 feed on fresh juicy herbs it can endure thirst 

 for more than a week. 1 Thanks to its broad 

 callous soles, it runs easily across the glowing 

 sands; and it carries considerable burdens, 

 which, however, must not overtax its strength. 

 It is the " ship of the desert" in the fullest 

 sense of the word, without whose aid the 

 caravans would be an impossibility; and it 

 has this resemblance to a ship also, that it 

 causes sea-sickness in riders not accustomed 

 to it. 



[To novices in the art of camel-riding there are 

 other inconveniences attending this mode of pro- 

 gression, which are graphically portrayed in the 

 following account of a camel-journey: 



" We are to mount the ship of the desert. There 

 are several methods of doing this, each of which 

 has its difficulties. The most plausible appears to 

 be to mount while the animal is still crouching on 

 the ground. But we take very good care not to 

 attempt that alone, since, long before we could seat 

 ourselves properly, whenever it felt our weight in 

 mounting, the camel would rise suddenly and fling 

 us backwards and sideways. Any one who is 

 accustomed to riding on a camel knows that quite 

 well, and is able to seat himself firmly at once. 

 We uneducated folks, however, while mounting and 

 gradually trying to settle ourselves in our seat, cause 

 the driver to tread upon the forefeet of the still 

 squatting camel so as to keep them from moving, 

 or to tie them, and fix one hand upon the bar of 

 the compressing apparatus that projects before the 

 saddle. It is only in this way that we can prepare 

 ourselves for all the changes of our centre of gravity 



1 Mr. F. L. James, in giving an account of a journey through the 

 Somali country, speaks of camels that had gone fifteen days without 

 water. See Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc. 1885, p. 630. TR. 



