46 THE CAMEL 



camel at time of connection'; (3) 'objection to have 

 connection with his dam,' to obviate which owners 

 cover up the latter and deceive him ; and he goes on 

 to say that should the camel detect the fraud he will 

 kill the perpetrator. The two former are well known, 

 and have been already alluded to, but the latter is a 

 most curious thing, which if true will support the 

 theory of his vindictiveness. I see no reason to doubt 

 its veracity, though I am bound to say that I have never 

 heard of the custom existing in the present day. I have 

 seen it stated elsewhere that the camel is decidedly 

 revengeful, and in satisfying this passion is said to 

 display a far thought-out malice scarcely consistent 

 with the extreme stupidity attributed to it by Palgrave. 

 Of this vindictiveness the driver is aware, and of the 

 certainty that sooner or later the camel will seek 

 revenge. Accordingly, it is customary for the person 

 who fears his malice to throw his clothes before the 

 camel, meanwhile hiding himself until his fury has been 

 expended in tossing and trampling on them, when the 

 injury, real or supposed, is at once forgotten. This 

 agrees with and quite bears out Aristotle's statement, 

 but whether due to retaliation, revenge, or whatever 

 cause, argues a distinct power of reasoning in the camel 

 which I, for one, have never seen exemplified, and is 

 endowing him with a superabundance of intelligence 

 which I feel sure he does not possess. I must confess, 

 however, that on service there is little time left to the 

 poor beast to exercise anything but a long-suffering 

 forbearance. Nor can I agree with the writer who 

 speaks of Palgrave's inconsistency in attributing extreme 

 stupidity to the camel in face of persistent vindic- 



