CHAPTER X. 



TRACKING AND TREATMENT. 



THE breaking in of the camel commences 

 when he is very young, and the manege of the 

 ordinary animal is very simple and soon com- 

 pleted. The high-bred dromedary, however, re- 

 quires a careful training, which, as Daumas says, 

 occupies more than an entire year of the time of 

 his groom. Tavernier states, that the new-born 

 foal is made to lie down, folding his legs under 

 him, and covered with a cloth, the edges of which 

 are loaded with stones to confine him in this 

 posture. He is thus kept fifteen or twenty days, 

 and in the mean time sparingly fed with milk. 

 The object of this treatment is said to be to ac- 

 custom him to lie upon his belly rather than 

 his side, and to enure him to thirst. It is quite 

 certain that young camels intended for burden 

 are not usually subjected to such a regimen, and 

 notwithstanding Tavernier's general accuracy, 

 it may be doubted whether the foal requires 

 any teaching to adopt the mode of lying down 

 which his physical structure prescribes. The 



