THE CAMEL 375 



The hump or ' bunch ' on the back was at one time 

 popularly supposed to be the water reservoir, whereas 

 it is composed of fatty cells which form a reserve of food. 

 There is something analogous to this in the hibernating 

 animals, which are always particularly fat when they 

 retire, and extremely lean when they make their reappear- 

 ance after their long sleep. In the case of the Camel the 

 store of fat is restricted to the hump, which is fat and plump 

 when the animal is well fed and lightly worked, shrinking 

 almost to nothing in a trying journey during which food is 

 scarce. 



In Arabia there is at least a score of different breeds, 

 but for all practical purposes they are either baggage animals 

 or fast riding Camels, which last are usually known as 

 Dromedaries. Small animals are loaded up to eight hun- 

 dred pounds and large ones up to half a ton, with which 

 they will move along at the rate of two and a half or three 

 miles an hour. A good Dromedary, such as the swift breed, 

 the Heirie, will travel eight miles an hour and keep up that 

 pace for a long time ; seventy or eighty miles a day will 

 be maintained for successive days, totalling in some cases 

 a distance of six hundred and thirty miles in five days. 

 In their figurative language the Arabs describe the 

 capabilities of their fast Camel couriers thus : ' When 

 thou shalt meet a heirie and say to the rider, Salem alic 

 (Peace be between us), ere he shall have answered thee, 

 Alic salem (There is peace between us), he will be far off 

 and nearly out of sight, for his swiftness is like the 

 wind.' 



The Arabian Camel is found not only in Arabia but 

 Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, Afghanistan, and India; and it 

 is common in Egypt and Northern Africa generally. It has 

 been introduced among other places into the South of 

 Europe, United States, and Australia. In the New World 

 it was not a success, and the few animals in Italy are very 

 inferior to those on the other side of the Mediterranean ; 

 but in Australia the Camel has proved invaluable in the 

 desert regions, and the thorough exploration of the interior 

 would have been practically impossible without it. 



Though the Camel is used in harness as a draught animal 



