8 THE CAMEL 



these works to the camel, and shows by what he has 

 written that, in addition to having a love for animals, 

 he must have been a keen observer, profiting by his 

 experiences when he probably accompanied Alexander 

 the Great in many of his expeditions, as well as from 

 many specimens which were procured for him by that 

 monarch ; but his remarks apply chiefly to the breed- 

 ing and procreation of the animal. Pliny, in his ' Natural 

 History,' also devotes some matter to the camel, but 

 appears to have copied from Aristotle^ and where he 

 tries to improve on him is generally wrong. 



Herodotus who travelled a great deal in Egypt and 

 in the Levant in i. 80, 4 says that the horse cannot 

 endure the sight or smell of the camel, and he 

 attributes the defeat of Croesus at the taking of Sardis 

 (B.C. 557) by the Persians under Cyrus to this fact. 

 The Persians brought a corps of men mounted on 

 camels into the field, which created such a panic 

 among the horses of the Lydian cavalry that they 

 became uncontrollable, and fled precipitately in all 

 directions. As this historian flourished about sixty or 

 seventy years after the event, his authority may readily 

 be accepted ; the more so as recent researches have 

 established beyond doubt the accuracy of much that 

 he has written. This undoubtedly is the first precise 

 mention of the camel being employed for warlike 

 purposes in other words, the first camel corps that 

 was ever formed the great difference between its 

 ancient and modern application being that the Persians 

 fought on the camels, whereas in these days of the 

 deadly breechloader they are only used as a means of 

 mobility to move men rapidly from one point to 



