CHAEACTER1STICS AND TEMPERAMENT 49 



hired drivers, who, as I shall point out hereafter, in all 

 our expeditions are composed of the scum and scourings 

 of the population lazy, ignorant scoundrels who have 

 only been attracted by the high rate of pay. 



The camel, it is almost needless for me to remark, is impertur- 

 not an excitable animal on the contrary, his calmness 

 and imperturbability are beyond precedent. You may 

 annoy and disturb him, and even make him grunt, but 

 you cannot excite him, and I should think it is almost an 

 impossibility to upset his equilibrium when under con- 

 trol. Under fire he is coolness itself, and the firing and 

 noise seem to have no effect on him. I have seen three 

 camels hit within a few seconds by rifle bullets one 

 through the head, which he only shook once or twice ; 

 the second through the hump, at which he made a 

 snap ; and the third in the hind quarters, who made no 

 kind of movement ; all three resuming their ordinary 

 attitude, and going on with their day's work as if no- 

 thing had happened. I am inclined to think that the 

 sense of feeling in the camel must be strangely wanting, 

 and that his nervous organisation is scarcely developed. 

 That he is deficient in this power there can be no doubt. 

 The normal condition of the camel is one of moral Normal 

 torpor and insensibility, out of which it is almost im- 

 possible to rouse him, and it is to this that his calmness 

 and coolness are due, though I have seen young, un- 

 trained camels that have been running wild in the 

 desert very restive and skittish at times. This is when 

 they are first employed for riding or carrying, but it 

 soon passes off under the wear and tear of hard work. 



As to his docility, if to be docile means tractability Docility 

 and easy management, then there is no doubt of it. 



E 



