172 THE CAMEL. 



the lower Volga and the steppes near the Cas- 

 pian, where there is an abundance of reeds and 

 rushes to serve as fodder for their cattle during 

 the cold season. 



Beyond the steppes inhabited by the Cal- 

 mucks, the Arabian camel is succeeded exclu- 

 sively by the Bactrian, 1 and some of the septs 

 of that tribe, as for example those with whom 

 Bergmann sojourned and wandered, possess 

 only the latter species. It is only in the coldest 

 climates inhabited by the Bactrian, that he re- 

 quires any protection against the rigors of win- 

 ter. Georgi states that, in the vicinity of Lake 

 Baikal, the camel is sewed up in coarse woollen 

 cloth during the extremest cold, but even here 

 he receives no fodder from his master, but is 

 left to shift for himself by browsing on the 

 twigs of the birch, the wild plum, the Siberian 

 pine, and the few shrubs that peep out through 

 the snows. On the plains of the Irtysch he 

 thrives extremely well, in spite of the piercing 



the Sahara on the approach of the rainy season, with the 

 swarms of insects that accompany that period. 



1 Although the Bactrian, as has been before observed, is 

 not bred in Arabia or in Africa, he is nevertheless known to 

 Arabic literature. Baron Hammer-Purgstall quotes from an 

 Arabic poem this couplet : 



Joints of the Bactrian did his table boast, 

 Choice fare and drink betrayed the generous host. 



