88 THE CAMEL. 



mouthfuls as he can snatch upon the march. 

 The vegetation of the desert is usually so sparse 

 that the quantity of nutritious food which can 

 be collected after the day's journey is performed 

 must be very inconsiderable ; and though upon 

 starting in the morning the animal shows signs. 

 of hunger, and much annoys his rider by sud- 

 denly stopping or starting aside to crop a tempt- 

 ing thorn, twig or thistle, yet in an hour or two 

 his appetite is satisfied, and he performs the rest 

 of his task without seeming to crave food. 1 I was 

 assured by the keeper of the herd at Pisa, that 

 when fed entirely on hay, the camel consumed 

 little more than half as much as the horse ; while, 

 on the other hand, a correspondent in the Crimea 

 informs me that the Bactrian camel requires at 

 least fifty pounds of hay per day in winter, and 

 another in Bessarabia estimates the daily winter 

 supply of hay and straw at seventy pounds. 2 

 Pottenger states that although the camels of 

 Beloochistan can almost wholly dispense with 

 food for five or six days together, yet they ordi- 

 narily receive about fifteen pounds of meal daily, 

 besides grass and shrubs, and he adds the singu- 

 lar fact that the Belooches give these animals 



1 Carbuccia says, p. 15 and p. 68, that in good pasturage he 

 consumes enough for the day in two hours. 



2 Carbuccia, p. 158, estimates his daily supply of (green) 

 herbage or shrubs at 25 kilos, or about 60 Ibs. 



