THE SHIP OF THE DESERT. 167 



in operation. Aside from the incalculable benefit that the white man's prestige 

 and rule will derive from its introduction into the Dark Continent, the aero- 

 plane can greatly advance the exploration of the Sahara and further its 

 reclamation. 



The numerous French expeditions into the interior of the desert during 

 the last decade, which have brought tO' light sO' many surprising and promising 

 features, would have been impossible without the camel. The old conception 

 of the Sahara was completely modified through the discovery, in its very 

 center, of the fertile plateau of Ahaggar, supporting an extensive grazing 

 industry among the Tuareg tribes. Another great caravan expedition by 

 camels along the southern edge of the desert revealed the astounding fact 

 that this region at one time had been an agricultural belt, while in the north 

 the tests as to ground waters have shown that new oases may be formed in 

 numerous places by artificial irrigation. Petroleum was also found conspicu- 

 ously among the universal products. All these discoveries and explorations 

 have been made possible through the camel, the only animal capable of travers- 

 ing these desolate and arid regions. 



The Arabs who inhabit desert regions would be helpless without the 

 camel, which animal is to them as essential as the railroad is to the American 

 citizen. Northern Africa and Central Asia embrace regions thousands of 

 miles in extent, in which the camel is almost without exception the only 

 large animal that can thrive on the scant supply of vegetation and water af- 

 forded. Hot, burning sand under the torrid sun offers no impediment to 

 the sure-footed "ship of the desert," as the camel is called. 



The camels of the Old World, and the llamas of the New, form a group of 

 ruminating animals distinguished widely from the true ruminants, and which 

 probably have had a totally distinct origin from more primitive even-toed 

 members of this group. 



The camels of the Old World, of which there are two distinct species, are 

 characterized by their great bodily size and bulk, and the presence of one or 

 two large fatty humps on the back. The feet are broad, with the toes very 

 imperfectly separated; and the tail is comparatively long, reaching nearly 

 to the hocks, and furnished near the end with long hair forming a terminal 

 tuft. Callous pads, on which the animal rests when lying down, and which 

 are present at birth, are found on the chest, the elbows, the wrists (commonly 

 called the knees), and the knees. The whole form of these animals is far from 

 beautiful, while the head is ugly in the extreme; and this want of bodily 

 beauty is accompanied by a viciousness of temper and general stupidity of 



