DOCILITY 



Whenever they are made to lie down or get up, 

 whenever they are loaded or unloaded, or whenever 

 approached, they gurgle and snarl and bare their 

 formidable-looking teeth in a vain protest against being 

 made to work ; and yet, once they are on the march, 

 they will continue without further objection until they 

 are exhausted, when they will lie down and die. 

 They are a curious mixture of patience and obstinacy. 

 Although easily handled by natives, such as the Arab 

 or Somali, they will often become unmanageable with 

 Europeans, and are subject to unreasoning fits of 

 sulkiness, when neither blows nor abuse will move 

 them. The Somali rarely use violence towards them, 

 finding them far more responsive to kindness, words 

 of endearment, or song ; I have often been astonished 

 to notice how camels seem to understand the wishes of 

 their syces, a fact which seems to give the lie to the 

 generally accepted belief in their stupidity. 



Camels are decidedly ugly if measured by our 

 standard of good looks, nor do they make up in 

 amiability what they lack in beauty. In fact, during 

 the rutting season, the stallions become extremely 

 dangerous, and many instances have been recorded of 

 their savage behaviour, when they have even killed 

 their masters without any provocation. But, happily, 

 they are for the most part fairly docile, and though 

 they often present a truly formidable appearance, 

 their "bark is generally much worse than their bite." 

 Ungainly and clumsy they certainly are, but there is 

 something extraordinarily picturesque in the sight of 

 a long line of laden camels toiling slowly and solemnly 

 across the desert, to the sound of their wooden bells 

 and the songs of their syces who plod along at their 

 side. 



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