CAMELS. 279 



tliey are made angry they are furious, especially against 

 each other, quarrelling much more frequently with their 

 own species than they do with man. Their owners are 

 always very careful to see that their humps are in good 

 condition before they set off on a journey ; and some 

 varieties are preferred to others on account of their 

 being able to bear a longer period of drought. They 

 are generally decorated with bells, the sounds of which, 

 in their desert journeys, are said to be very agreeable 

 to them. If once they fall from fatigue and sick- 

 ness, they seldom rise again ; but as a whole party, 

 particularly when every day's provision of water is 

 measured, cannot be stopped for one, they are left 

 alone to die, their eyes following the masters who are 

 obliged to abandon them, and whom they have served 

 BO faithfully ; the vultures already hovering over them, 

 ready to pick their bones as soon as they have sent 

 forth their last breath. Their spine, when again found, 

 is often raised upon a pole, as a charm against the 

 withering spell of the evil eye. 



The load of a camel is about 800 Ibs., and their 

 usual pace nearly three miles an hour ; but at this rate 

 they continue for nine or ten hours. Their colour is 

 chiefly a reddish brown, or grey; rarely black, and 

 occasionally white. They are natives of the countries 

 which they inhabit ; the dromedary coming from 

 Arabia and Africa, the camel from the middle of Asia, 

 to the north of the Himalaya mountains. They are 

 said to harbour revenge, but if^ this be once gratified, 

 they soon return to good humour. 



