CAMEL. 



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printed during his life, from which was made the 

 English translation of Philemon Holland. After this 

 lie undertook to write the history of the reign of queen 

 Elizabeth, the principal literary labour ot his future 

 years. The first part of this work appeared in 1615, 

 with the following title : " Annales rerum Angli- 

 carum et Hiberniarum regnante Elizabetha, ad an- 

 num salutis 1589," London, folio. The second part 

 was finished in 1617, but not printed till after the 

 death of the author. A complete edition of the " An- 

 nals" was published by Thomas Hearne at Oxford, 

 1717, 3 vols. 8vo. In 1662 Camden founded a pro- 

 fessorship of history at Oxford, which he endowed 

 with the valuable manor of Bexley in Kent. He died 

 November 9, 1623, at Chiselhurst in Kent, where he 

 had spent the latter part of his life, and had given di- 

 rections for his interment in the parish church, but his 

 remains were deposited in Westminster Abbey, where 

 a monument was erected to his memory. Besides the 

 works already mentioned, Camden published a collec- 

 tion of early English historians, printed at Frankfort 

 in. 1603, folio; and he also composed essays on Bri- 

 tish antiquities, read before the antiquarian society, 

 of which he was one of the first members. Hume, in 

 his history of England, ranks Camden's history of 

 queen Elizabeth among the best historical productions 

 which had been composed by any Englishman. Of 

 the Britannia, which has for two centuries been con- 

 sidered as a standard work, it is unnecessary to say 

 more than that it has been enlarged by the editorial 

 labours of bishop Gibson and Mr Gough to the extent 

 of four volumes in folio, forming a valuable body of 

 British topography and antiquities. 



CAMEL (catnelus, L.) ; a genus of mammiferous 

 quadrupeds, of the ruminant order, characterized by 

 their size ; the possession of incisive, canine, and 

 molar teeth ; the upper lip divided ; the neck long 

 and arched ; by the absence of horns, and by having 

 one or two humps or protuberances upon the back, 

 and naked callosities at the joints of the leg, the in- 

 ferior part of the breast, &c. The inferior extremities 

 terminate in two toes, which are not wholly covered 

 by hoof, as they have only a small one at the ex- 

 tremity, and a sort of very hard, callous sole, common 

 to both. There are six incisive and two canine teeth 

 in the lower jaw ; and, in the upper, there are two in- 

 cisors in the intermaxillary bone, with one or two ca- 

 nine teeth on each side, which increase to a consider- 

 able size with the increasing age of the animal. The 

 camel is the only ruminant animal which has cutting 

 teeth in the uppei jaw. 



The native country of this genus is said to extend 

 from Mauritania to China, within a zone of 900 or 

 1000 miles in breadth. The common camel, having 

 two humps, is only found in the northern part of this 

 region, and exclusively from the ancient Bactria, now 

 Turkestan, to China. The dromedary, or single- 

 hump camel, is found throughout the entire length of 

 this zone, on its southern side, as far as Africa and 

 India. Notwithstanding this, the dromedary can- 

 not sustain either the burning heat of the torrid, 

 or the mild climate of the temperate zone, while 

 the camel supports all the vicissitudes of climate 

 with but little injury. Jt is highly probable that 

 the camel has long ceased to exist in its wild or 

 natural state, as .it has been enslaved by man 

 from the earliest times of which we have record. 

 Among the stock composing the wealth of the patri- 

 arch Job, we find COO camels enumerated. Unlike 

 the elephant, and oilier animals which cease to 

 breed in a state of captivity, the camel is as pro- 

 lific as if at liberty ; and vast numbers are raised 

 and employed throughout the Oriental countries, 

 especially in the commerce carried on between the 

 I'fople residing in the vicinity of the great deserts. 



To these people the camel answers the place of ships, 

 and other modes of conveyance, being especially 

 adapted by nature for the service in which it is em- 

 ployed. In regions where water is scarce, and wells 

 or springs are several days' journey distant from eacli 

 other, it would be impossible to traverse the country 

 with the usual beasts of burthen. But the camel am 

 abstain from drinking for seven or eight days toge- 

 ther without injury an important advantage, which 

 is owing to the possession of a fifth pouch, or appen- 

 dix to the stomach, destined to receive water, when- 

 ever it can be procured, and capable of retaining it 

 unchanged for a long time. From this receptacle a 

 portion of water can be thrown into the other stom- 

 achs or gullet when necessary, and thus avert the 

 evils of thirst. Possessing strength and activity sur- 

 passing that of most beasts of burthen, docile, patient 

 of hunger and thirst, and contented with small quan- 

 tities of the coarsest provender, the camel is one of 

 the most valuable gifts of Providence. There is no 

 thing, however, in the external appearance of th^ 

 animal to indicate the existence of any of its excellent 

 qualities. In form and proportions, it is very oppo- 

 site to our usual ideas of perfection and beauty. A 

 stout body, having the back disfigured with one or 

 two humps ; limbs long, slender, and seemingly too 

 weak to support the trunk ; a long, slim, crooked 

 neck, surmounted by a heavily- proportioned head, 

 are all ill-suited to produce favourable impressions. 

 Nevertheless, there is no creature more excellently 

 adapted to its situation, nor is there one in which 

 more of creative wisdom is displayed in the peculi- 

 arities of its organization. To the Arabs and other 

 wanderers of the desert, the camel is at once wealth, 

 subsistence, and protection. Their strength and 

 fleetness render their masters the terror of enemies, 

 and secure them from pursuit a few hours being 

 sufficient to place leagues of trackless desert between 

 them and their foes. The milk of the females fur- 

 nishes the Arab with a large part of his nutriment. 

 The flesh of the young animal is one 1 of his greatest 

 luxuries : of the skins, he forms tents : the various 

 sorts of hair, or wool, shed by the camel, are wrought 

 into different fabrics ; and its dried dung constitutes 

 excellent fuel, the only kind, indeed, to be obtained 

 throughout vast extents of country. In order to 

 qualify camels for great exertions, and the endurance 

 of iatigue, the Arabs begin to educate them at an 

 early age. They are first taught to bear burdens, by 

 having their limbs secured under the belly, and then 

 a weight proportioned to their strength is put on : 

 this is not changed for a heavier load till the animal 

 is thought to have gained sufficient power to sustain 

 it. Food and drink are not allowed at will, but given 

 in small quantity, at long intervals. They are then 

 gradually accustomed to long journeys, and an accel- 

 erated-pace, until their qualities of fleetness and 

 strength are fully brought into action. They are 

 taught to kneel, for the purpose of receiving or re 

 moving their load. When too heavily laden, the) 

 refuse to rise; and, by loud cries, complain of tin- 

 injustice. Small camels carry from 600 to 800 Ibs. ; 

 the largest and strongest bear 1000 or 1200 Ibs., from 

 thirty to thirty-five miles a-day. Those which are 

 used for speed alone are capable of travelling from 

 sixty to ninety miles a-day. Instead of employing 

 blows or ill treatment to increase their speed, the 

 camel drivers sing cheerful songs, and thus urge the 

 animals to their oest efforts. When a caravan of 

 camels arrives at a resting or baiting place, they 

 kneel, and, the cords sustaining the load being un- 

 tied, the bales slip down on each side. They gener- 

 ally sleep on their bellies, crouching between the 

 bales they have carried : the load is, therefore, re- 

 placed with great facility. In an abundant pasture 



