72 THE CAMEL. 



said there are breeds which have entirely lost this 

 disagreeable peculiarity ; yet, in general, silent 

 as is the march of a burden caravan, its halts are 

 very unmistakably announced to all wanderers 

 within a long distance of its track. 1 So harsh 

 indeed is the growl of the camel, that Father 

 Hue 2 gravely declares that his camel-driver, on 

 one occasion, put a pack of wolves to flight by 

 tweaking his camel's nose till he roared again. 



The dentition of the camel, like that of other 

 domestic quadrupeds, furnishes a convenient 

 indication of the age of the animal up to twelve 

 years, when it is completed, and no longer serves 

 as a criterion. I do not find a description of the 

 growth of the teeth during the first five years, 

 but Burckhardt says that, at the beginning of the 

 sixth year, the first pair of back teeth appear, 

 early in the eighth the second pair, and in the 

 tenth the third, each pair taking two years for its 

 growth. 



I will close this chapter of disagreeables by an 

 extract from a writer whom I have often quoted. 



" But on this head of desagremens I do not 

 care to be diffuse ; and I will mention as one of 



1 " Muzzle the mouths of your camels, and when they are 

 reposing, avoid approaching them, lest the groans they would 

 utter at the sight of their masters rouse the enemy. Daumas, 

 Le Grand Desert, 29. 



2 Travels in Tartary, i. c. 3. 



