THE TAMING OF THE WILD 283 



closer bond of sympathy unites the camel and 

 its owner, and, according" to Kipling, the 

 Bikaneer men have bred "thieves' camels," 

 which, in place of gurgling and groaning 

 whenever they rise or kneel, are perfectly silent 

 lest they should betray the whereabouts of 

 their rascally masters. A silent camel would 

 be a boon at times when the restless bubbling 

 and muttering" of the brutes keep one awake 

 half the night. As they exist in Morocco, the 

 camel and camelman are much the same. They 

 belong to the sand and stones of the plains 

 and are useless in the lighter air of the 

 mountains, where they must be replaced by 

 the muleteer and his mule. The great virtue 

 of the camel is its extraordinary endurance, 

 and that, in the climatic conditions in which 

 it is required, covers a multitude of sins. It 

 may lack the fire and dash of the barb, or the 

 gentle manner of the ass, or the comfortable 

 ambling gait of the mule. Yet the "ship of 

 the desert" is sun -proof and indomitable. 

 True, unlike other ships, it comes to grief in 

 water, or even on wet ground, collapsing irre- 

 coverably ; but in dry weather it is unequalled, 

 carrying its four hundredweight day and night, 

 swinging along in the heat of the noonday sun 

 or in the bitter cold of the desert night. 

 That it is out of action in rainy weather 

 matters little in the Sahara, where rain is rare, 



