CAM 



C.m>rl. a handsome statue of white marble to be erected to 

 I, memory, holding in his hand a book with Hriian- 

 tiid inscribi il on it. 



Camden was not more distinguished by his learn- 

 ing than by his virtues. His character is thus sum- 

 med up by one of his biographers. " In his writings 

 he was candid and modest ; in his conversation easy 

 and innocent ; and in his whole life even and exem- 

 plary. When he was young, learned men were his 

 patrons : when he grew up, the learned were his in- 

 timates : and when he became old, he was the patron 

 of the learned : so that learning was his only btudy, 

 and learned men his only society." The high repu- 

 tation which his writings acquired among foreigners, 

 is both honourable to himself and to his country ; 

 and it might have been in a great measure owing to 

 the mildness and candour of his disposition, that few 

 who have been so eminent in the republic of letters, 

 have suffered so little from the critical censures of 

 cotemporary writers. That he maintained a very ex- 

 tensive correspondence with learned men, both at 

 home and abroad, appears from his letters and annals, 

 which have been given to the public ; and such was 

 his reputation as a scholar, all over Europe, that it 

 was deemed a great omission in a foreigner to visit 

 England, and return without seeing Camden. See 

 Biog. Brit. ; Bishop Gibson's and Smith's Lives of 

 Camden. (A. F.) 



CAMEL, a genus of quadrupeds belonging to the 

 order pccora of Linnaeus, the principal generic and 

 specific characters of which we shall reserve for their 

 proper place, under MAMMALIA, and here confine 

 ourselves chiefly to the domestic uses to which this 

 animal is converted. 



The camel is one of the larger quadrupeds, being 

 six or seven feet from the ground to the highest part 

 of the back, and it carries the head when erect about 

 nine feet above the plane of its position. The carcase 

 weighs three or four hundred pounds ; but the size 

 and weight are far from alike in all. 



Notwithstanding our familiarity with this animal, 

 the different species and varieties are by no means well 

 understood, which produces some inconsistency in a 

 general account of the properties it possesses. There 

 are two species so distinct, however, that they cannot 

 possibly be mistaken ; the one the Bactrian or Tau- 

 ridan camel, having two bunches on the back, and 

 the other of somewhat smaller size, lighter made, and 

 more active, called the Arabian camel or dromedary. 

 It is this latter only which is most generally alluded 

 to under the name of camel. 



Certain authors have described four, which they 

 conceive distinct species of camels. 1 st, The Turkman 

 camel, which is larger, stouter, and of a darker colour 

 than the rest. It requires more careful feeding, is 

 less capable of resisting excessive heats, and of endur- 

 ing privations, and is more untractable. 2d, The 

 Arab camel, of smaller size, less hairy, and not so dark 

 in colour as the former, and which can endure the want 

 of water. 3d, The dromedary, which some think 

 js a high breed of the Arab camel, with a smaller 

 bunch, more agile, and able to travel three or four 

 times as far in the same time as the others. 4th, The 

 Taifridan or Bactrian camel, with two bunches, be- 

 longing to Persia, or the countries adjacent to the 



CAM 



Crimea, and perhaps found on the confines of China, 

 larger than the first, more hairy, and of different co- 

 lours, between deep brown and dun. It appears that 

 there is considerable variety in the colour of the camel, 

 and that the goods mannufactured from its hair are 

 most esteemed, when approaching nearest to* white 

 or black. 



One principal characteristic of the whole race is 

 the prominence on its back, which is of a fleshy 

 or glandular consistence, but not produced by a 

 curvature of the spine. Zoologists have therefore 

 indulged an hypothesis, that it was npt implanted 

 there by the hand of nature, but that it originated 

 from the treatment of the animal, and is now transmit- 

 ted in the breed aa a generic character. Admitting 

 that climate, treatment, and accidental circumstances 

 can have very great influence on the structure and 

 disposition of animals, we cannot agree that such a 

 singular alteration has taken place in the conforma- 

 tion of the camel. 



The natural abode of this animal is in the warmer 

 climates, and places abounding with sand, where 

 food is scanty, and exposure to long protracted pri- 

 vations are unavoidable ; insomuch that, from the 

 configuration of its foot, difficulty is experienced in 

 treading another soil, and in the richer or more fertile 

 countries where attempts have been made for its na- 

 turalisation, it grows feeble, languishes, and dies. 



The motion of the camel is unlike that of moat 

 other animals ; both the feet on the same side are 

 successively raised, and not alternately, like those of 

 the horse. Its pace is naturally slow, and when ac- 

 celerated, the rider experiences the most severe jolt- 

 ing, which it requires continued practice to endure. 



Properties which are denied to the greater part of 

 quadrupeds are possessed by the camel, and in their 

 fullest extent converted to the use of mankind. It is 

 docile, patient of labour, and capable of abstinence 

 in a wonderful degree ; it can endure scorching heats 

 with impunity ; it feeds on thistles, on the stunted 

 shrubs and withered herbage of the desert, and can 

 pass successive days in total want of water; thus 

 seeming as if purposely devised by nature for the 

 most cheerless and inhospitable regions. 



But these properties are improved to a great ex- 

 tent, by the mode in which the camel is reared. 

 At the earliest period, the legs are folded under the 

 body, in which position it is constrained to remain. 

 Its back is covered with a carpet, weighed down by 

 a quantity of stones gradually augmented : it re- 

 ceives a scanty portion of food : it is rarely supplied 

 with water; and, in this manner, is regularly brought 

 up in a system of privation. When the time of 

 trial has elapsed, and it is broke into subservience, it 

 kneels at the command of the master, who either 

 mounts it himself, or loads it with a heavy burden ; 

 and trusting to its strength, and the privations it can 

 suffer, he ventures to traverse the trackless desert. 



A strong camel is able to carry 1000 pounds, and 

 some are laden with 1500, for short journies, or to 

 escape the tribute on single burdens. The usual 

 weight in long expeditions is, from 500 to 800 pounds, 

 so disposed, tint half the weight hangs on each side, 

 and it is different according to the species employed. 

 Yet under such a heavy load, though care be takejj 



C.V '. 



