50 THE CAMEL. 



joint is often dislocated or so badly wrenched 

 that the animal is unable to rise with his burden 

 and proceed upon his journey. 1 It is commonly 

 said that the camel never rises after falling under 

 his load, and that he immediately perishes under 

 such circumstances. I have myself witnessed 

 instances to the contrary, although I have no 

 doubt that when the fall is from exhaustion, the 

 death of the animal is nearly certain. Where 

 the mud is merely a thin layer of wet earth over 

 a rocky or other very hard surface, the camel 



1 According to General Harlan, the hind legs are some- 

 times hoppled above the gambrel joint to prevent their 

 spreading on wet ground. " But as touching this matter of 

 security I must put in a caveat. I will be responsible for the 

 sure-footedness of the camel on dry soils only ; for if there 

 be mud, water running or stagnant, or even if the ground 

 be damp enough to run a western steamboat, travellers agree 

 that the Arabian camel is very apt to come down unhand- 

 somely ; his forefoot slipping and wringing his withers, or his 

 hind legs spreading and dislocating, or sorely wrenching his 

 hip joints. Tavernier says the same thing even of the Tur- 

 corman camel, accustomed as he is to rain and snow ; and 

 goes so far as to affirm that the drivers spread carpets over 

 wet places for their beasts to tread upon. I have often seen 

 camels slip, but never fall, in the mud ; and I have not ob- 

 served that they were particularly shy of wet, as some au- 

 thors declare. On the contrary, in passing along the beach 

 of the Red Sea, in the Gulf of Akaba, my dromedary fairly 

 took to the water, and I had to use some very energetic per- 

 suasives to induce him to return to terra jirtna" The 

 Desert. 



