132 



THE CAMEL AND DROMEDARY. 



known to amount to above ten thousand, and 

 the number of camels is often greater than 

 those of the men: each of these animals is 

 loaded according to his strength, and he is 

 so sensible of it himself, that when his bur- 

 den is too great, he remains still upon his 

 belly, the posture in which he was laden, re- 

 fusing to rise, till his burden be lessened or 

 taken away. In general, the large camels are 

 capable of carrying a thousand weight, and 

 sometimes twelve hundred ; the dromedary, 

 from six to seven. In these trading journeys 

 they travel but slowly, their stages are ge- 

 nerally regulated, and they seldom go above 

 thirty, or at most about five and thirty miles 

 a day. Every evening, when they arrive at 

 a stage, which is usually some spot of verdure, 

 where water and shrubs are in plenty, they 

 are permitted to feed at liberty; they are 

 then seen to eat as much in an hour, as will 

 supply them for twenty-four; they seem to 

 prefer the coarsest weeds to the softest pas- 

 ture : the thistle, the nettle, the cassia, and 

 other prickly vegetables, are their favourite 

 food; but their drivers take care to supply 

 them with a kind of paste composition, 

 which serves as a more permanent nourish- 

 ment. 



As these animals have often gone the same 

 track, they are said to know their way pre- 

 cisely, and to pursue their passage when their 

 guides are utterly astray; when they come 

 within a few miles of their baiting-place, in 

 the evening, they sagaciously scent it at a 

 distance, and increasing their speed, are often 

 seen to trot with vivacity to their stage. 



The patience of this animal is most extra- 

 ordinary; and it is probable, that its suffer- 

 ings are great; for when it is loaded, it sends 

 forth most lamentable cries, but never offers 

 to resist the tyrant that oppresses it. At the 

 slightest sign, it bends its knees and lies upon 

 its belly, suffering itself to be loaded in this 

 position ; by this practice the burden is more 

 easily laid upon it, than if lifted up while 

 standing; at another sign it rises with its 

 load, and the driver getting upon its back, 



a Mr. Sonnini says, he has sometimes seen them weary 

 of the impatience of their riders, stop short, turn round 

 their long necks to bite them, and utter cries of rage. In 

 these circumstances the man must be careful not to alight, 



between the two panniers, which, like ham- 

 pers, arc placed upon each side, he encou- 

 rages the camel to proceed with his voice 

 and with a song. In this manner the crea- 

 ture proceeds contentedly forward, with a 

 slow uneasy walk, of about four miles an hour, 

 and when it comes to its stage, lies down to 

 be unloaded as before.* 



Mr. Buffon seems to consider the camel to 

 be the most domesticated of all other crea- 

 tures, and to have more marks of the tyran- 

 ny of man imprinted on its form. He is of 

 opinion, that this animal is not now to be 

 found in a state of nature; that the humps on 

 its back, the callosities upon its breast and 

 its legs, and even the great reservoir for wa- 

 ter, are all marks of long servitude and do- 

 mestic constraint. The deformities he sup- 

 poses to be perpetuated by generation ; and 

 what at first was accident, at last becomes 

 nature. However this be, the humps upon 

 the back grow large in proportion as the ani- 

 mal is well fed, and if examined, they will 

 be found composed of a substance not unlike 

 the udder of a cow. 



The inhabitants generally leave but one 

 male to wait on ten females, the rest they 

 castrate; and though they thus become weak- 

 er, they are more manageable and patient. 

 The female receives the male in the same 

 position as when these animals are loaded ; 

 she goes with young for about a year, and, 

 like all other great animals, produces but one 

 at a time. The camel's milk is abundant and 

 nourishing, and mixed with water makes a 

 principal part of the beverage of the Arabians. 

 These animals begin to engender at three 

 years of age, and they ordinarily live from 

 forty to fifty years. The genital part of the 

 male resembles that of the bull, but is placed 

 pointing backwards, so that its urine seems 

 to be ejected in the manner of the female. 

 This, as well as the dung, and almost every 

 part of this animal, is converted to some use- 

 ful purpose by the keepers. Of the urine, 

 sal ammoniac is made ; of the dung, litter for 

 the horses, and fire for the purpose of dres- 



as he would infallibly be torn to pieces ; he must also 

 refrain from striking his beast, as that would but increase 

 his fury. 



