56 THE CAMEL 



steadier and more sedate he becomes ; but naturally 

 there are exceptions, and when bad-tempered, or in a 

 ' mast ' condition, he is usually very noisy and snappish. 

 The aver- To sum up the average specimen of a camel. He 

 men can abstain from food and water the latter more 

 especially longer than any other animal. He is 

 stupid and patient to excess, submissive and tenacious 

 to a degree, docile and obstinate to a certain extent, 

 vindictive and passionate when roused, not easily ex- 

 cited nor usually alarmed, though at times liable to a 

 panic or stampede an animal, in fact, whose cha- 

 racteristics are every bit as peculiar as his structural 

 peculiarities. 

 Prevailing We have previously remarked on the widespread 



ignorance . - 1.1 M 



ignorance 01 the camel that prevails, even among 

 European residents and travellers in the East, but in a 

 measure this is not to be wondered at, and the reason 

 of it is more or less self-evident. 'It may be that the 

 apathy and nonchalance of the camel better suits the 

 sluggish and conservative temperament of the Eastern 

 than it does the rapid, radical disposition of the Western 

 races. Or is it that in the good old days, and even 

 nowadays for the matter of that, in this go-ahead, 

 practical age, few people have troubled to learn his 

 peculiarities and characteristics, and fewer still have 

 studied his capacities and ailments under the variable 

 conditions and circumstances that he has been sub- 

 jected to ? 



The rea- Because, with all his docility and patience, in spite 



unpopu- of his domestication, and notwithstanding his large, soft, 



sympathetic-looking eyes, the camel is uninteresting 



and unattractive, and has been looked upon more in the 



