CHARACTERISTICS AND TEMPERAMENT 57 



light of a strange natural curiosity, valuable only to 

 certain tribes in certain countries. And yet, to those 

 who know him, not uninteresting in the strict sense of 

 the word, for the camel has a curious conglomeration 

 of characteristics not to be found in other animals, 

 and not only is he well worth the study of an ardent 

 naturalist, but would well repay his researches. To 

 the ordinary observer, however, his intense, Medusa-like 

 composure, far from attracting, is repellent. Nor does 

 he ever break that composure, no matter how old and 

 how long your association with him. He steadily 

 declines your advances. He refuses to become your 

 friend. He will not identify himself with his rider or 

 driver in the smallest way whatever. His eye never 

 lights up with love or even interest at the approach or 

 approval of his master in fact, it never lights up at all 

 with any feeling inspired by affection. This is a quality 

 which Nature seems to have entirely forgotten to insert 

 in the composition of the camel, and his best friend 

 and most devoted admirer cannot accuse him of being 

 a sentimentalist in any sense. No endearments and no 

 blandishments (to me it seems the height of ridicule 

 even to imagine a sane person making a pet of one), 

 not all the coaxing in the world is of any avail. You 

 cannot appeal to him as you can to almost any other 

 domestic animal through his stomach, to put it literally ; 

 in other words, by feeding and pampering him. In 

 fact, you cannot appeal to him at all, for he has no 

 feeling to appeal to. I do not know how it would 

 succeed if you took a newly-born camel in hand, as I 

 have never attempted it, but I imagine the difficulties, 

 though perhaps not insuperable, would still be very great. 



