CHAPTER XVIII. 



MILITARY USES OF THE CAMEL. 



THE ancient Asiatics, and, at a later period, 

 the Romans, made a very extensive use of the 

 dromedary in war, not only for the transporta- 

 tion of men and munitions, but as technical 

 cavalry in actual combat. 



Herodotus, Xenophon, Livy, Pliny the elder, 

 Diodorus, Herodian, Procopius, and other an- 

 cient authors, speak of the military uses of the 

 camel, in terms which show that he was em- 

 ployed in war to an extent only inferior to the 

 horse ; and it does not appear that there is any- 

 thing in his constitution or habits which in any 

 degree unfits him for rendering essential service 

 in modern warfare. The Bactrian is still em- 

 ployed in Persia, Bokhara, and Tartary, for 

 military purposes, and especially for the con- 

 veyance of light pieces of artillery, which are 

 mounted between the humps, and used in that * 

 position, the camel kneeling while the gun is 

 loaded, aimed, and fired. Burckhardt saw the 



