C A M K L. 



a slow rate, bear nearly the same relation to the 

 smaller, lighter, and fleeter breeds, which are used in 

 reeonnoitering or on swift journeys, that our heavy 

 dray and cart horses bear to roadster?, hunters, and 

 raeers. It is to this small and fleet breed that the 

 name dromedary, or mahairy, properly applies. By 

 means of these, no doubt with relays at the different 

 stages, a journey at the rate of more than four miles 

 an hour may be kept up night and day for several 

 days. It has sometimes been alleged that this dif- 

 ference of speed in different individuals should be 

 considered as arising from a difference of species, 

 and there have not been wanting 1 attempts to show 

 that these different species originated in different 

 parts of the country, but there is little reason to sup- 

 pose that either the one or the other of those suppo- 

 sitions have the slightest foundation in truth ; though 

 there is no doubt that camels, like all other animals, 

 are affected by differences of climate, pasture, and 

 treatment. And, as the swifter ones are said to be 

 more in the hands of the wandering Bedouins than of 

 those who have comparatively fixed abodes, it is highly 

 probable that the farther into the desert.the camel is the 

 fleeter, and the smaller in size. This accords with what 

 is observed of animals in our own country ; and as is 

 the case with these, it seems to be in hardihood and 

 power of endurance more than in absolutely greater 

 speed, fora short time that the mahairies are superior 

 to the larger camels which are employed to carry 

 loads at slower rates and at shorter distances. 



The Arabian camel is, in the largest breeds, about 

 seven feet in height ; but the smaller and swifter ones 

 are lower. The legs are long and slender, and what 

 are considered "clean made." It is very much drawn 

 in at the flanks, but the abdomen is rather too large, 

 and the length of the intestinal canal and size of the 

 stomachs, rendered necessary by the coarse nature of 

 the animal's food, require that it should be so. There 

 is but one hump, which is nearly in the middle of the 

 back, broad and rather flat in the upper part ; and it 

 does not waste so much in the rutting season as the 

 hump of the Bactrian camel. Independently of the dif- 

 ferent breeds which are reared for different purposes in 

 the domestic economy of those people who use camels, 

 there are considerable differences arising from the 

 characters of the countries in which they are bred. 

 In this respect they follow the law of all domesticated 

 animals which find their food in the fields ; that is, 

 the richer the pasture is the breed runs the larger, 

 and the breed gradually diminishes as the pasture 

 becomes bare and dry. So that if large camels are 

 wanted in Arabia or in the African deserts, the breed 

 has to be obtained, or kept up by periodical crossing, 

 from Turkey; and on the other hand, if light and 

 fleet camels are wanted in the richer places, they 

 tiave to be obtained by means of the breeds of the 

 deserts. Independently however of this, there ap- 

 pears to be some difference of size connected with 

 difference of latitude, as they are smaller in proportion 

 as they are bred in places nearer the equator. From 

 this it has sometimes been argued that the Arabian 

 camel is not a native of Arabia, but of Syria, and 

 even the northern part of that country toward the 

 mountains of Armenia ; and that of the two species 

 of camel, the one are natives of the country immedi- 

 ately to the south of those mountains which range 

 from the Himalaya to the shores of the Archipelago, 

 and that the others are natives of the northern slopes 

 of the same mountains 



That this mountain ridge is the natural boundary 

 of the localities of the two species or varieties may 

 readily be admitted, because the hair of the Bactrian 

 camel follows the general law of that of all Miiiim.d* 

 of Central Asia northward of the line of the Ilimtilaya. 

 Toward the winter it grows very long, as if to serve 

 as a thatch against at least occasional snow storms ; 

 ! and when summer sets in, this winter coat of long 

 j hair is shed, so that during the summer, which is very 

 ! hot and dry in those places, as compared with the 

 | winter, the animal is nearly nuked. In the Arabian 

 ! camel, on the other hand, there is no such seasonal 

 change in the hair. No doubt it is longer in winter 

 than in summer, and the coat is annually changed as 

 well as that of the other; but the change is gradual. 

 in comparison, and the difference in the winter and 

 summer appearance of the animal is not nearlv so 

 great. In this respect, however, there is a consider- 

 able difference between the camels of the northern 

 and the southern parts of their range, or more strictly 

 speaking, between those that inhabit countries which 

 are subject to periodical rain and drought, and those 

 which inhabit where the climate is habitually <lrv, 

 and with the Aoeption of difference of heat (which 

 is not very great), the weather may be said to be 

 nearly the same all the year round. This is very 

 much the case on the borders of the western or rather 

 the central deserts of Africa, and it is partially also 

 the case in some of the northern parts of Arabia. 

 These are the places where the smallest and fleetest. 

 camels are bred, and also where their hair is shortest 

 and most uniform in length throughout the year. 



There is thus a wonderful accommodation to cli- 

 mate in the camel, as well as in all the other ruini- 

 nuntia, which are so very serviceable to man in a 

 domestic state ; and from this we may infer that, in 

 so far as its general health is concerned, the camel 

 might in course of time be domesticated, and thrive 

 in a domestic state, in any latitude, from Lapland 

 to the equator. There is something very remarkable 

 in this universal adaptation of those animals which 

 are the most serviceable to the human race, so re- 

 markable that it is impossible not to see that God 

 has created those animals for a double purpose. 

 First, for their general use in wild nature, in which 

 they agree with all other natural productions ; and 

 secondly, in their peculiar use to man in all stages 

 and degrees of civilisation. And we may remark 

 that the very same law holds good in the vegetable 

 kingdom. All those plants which are more eminently 

 necessary for human food can, with proper manage- 

 ment, be grown in perfection over a vast range of 

 surface. Wheat, which is probably (though the fact 

 is one which annot be ascertained with certainty) a 

 native of Northern Africa, can be profitably reared in 

 the north of Scotland; and the potato, which is origi- 

 nally from Central America, forms a large proportion 

 of the vegetable food even of Northern Europe, and 

 is much better there than in any part of that continent 

 of which it is a native. 



Animals and vegetables which are not serviceable 

 to man, or of which the possession partakes more of 

 the character of a luxury than that of a necessary 

 life, do not so readily accommodate themselves to 

 different climates ; and in order to have them in 

 places which are not native to them, a good deal of 

 art must be practised, and a good deal of expense 

 incurred. But though the valuable animals accom- 

 modate themselves to different climates, there is Ecill 



