INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE 79 



never met one that showed such intelligence as Lieut. 

 Massoutier attributes to the Algerian camel. For my 

 part, I cannot help thinking that he is labouring under 

 a wrong impression. The mere fact of his alluding, all 

 in one breath, to their also bolting when frightened, as 

 well as for fresh pasture, and coupling this with the 

 thefts which consequently follow, lead me to infer that 

 he has got a trifle mixed in his deductions. 



Camels when grazing wander about loosely, espe- 

 cially younger ones, and they are then easily enough 

 frightened. Here he is quite right, and a few men can 

 cause a panic among them without much difficulty. It 

 is more than likely that this has been the case when 

 Lieut. Massoutier has seen them bolting, and that they 

 were being scared by thieves towards good pasturage, 

 there to be stolen, or by dissatisfied drivers, who were 

 anxious to return to their own homes. I am not aware 

 of the thieving propensities of the Algerian Arabs, but 

 certainly the Pathans on our north-west frontier of India 

 are fully capable of this, which is quite feasible in bush 

 country. 



I will admit, however, that it is quite possible that Mental 

 one particular breed of camel may possess a greater O f 

 amount of instinct in it than another, just as in dogs 

 and horses one breed has distinctly superior intelli- 

 gence over others, and One horse or dog, as you invari- 

 ably find, is far cleverer and sharper than the majority 

 of his kind. For instance, it is pretty universally 

 acknowledged that the poodle is the cleverest of the 

 latter, while of the former my experience has been that 

 those of the Arab breed are the sharpest. As Darwin 

 says on this point, ' The variability of the faculties in 



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