376 THE CAMEL 



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 generally 

 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 pasture ; 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 nourishment. As these ani- 

 mals have often gone the same track, they are 

 said to know their way precisely, and to pursue 

 their passage when their guides are utterly astray : 

 when they come within a few miles of their bait- 

 ing-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 extraordi- 

 nary ; and it is probable that its sufferings 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 prac- 

 tice the burden is more easily laid upon it than 

 if lifted up while standing : at another sign it 



