148 THE CAMEL 



Quality of As to the quality of water preferred by camels, 

 toed pr there is also much doubt and contradiction. On the one 

 hand it is asserted that they are not very particular as 

 to the water they drink. On the other, it is said that 

 they prefer clean water, slightly salt. While a third 

 authority maintains that they like still water ; and 

 curiously enough Aristotle, speaking on this point, says 

 that they prefer troubled water. In fact he lays it 

 down as a hard-and-fast rule that water should be 

 made turbid before allowing them to drink. Here we 

 have three opinions, all at variance with each other. 

 Personally, I am inclined to the former up to a certain 

 extent. The fact of the matter, however, is, that in 

 this respect camels, like human beings, when suffering 

 from thirst will drink anything, but as a rule they 

 prefer clean still water. They will drink saline water ; 

 but this, I think, arises from the fact that they are 

 usually obliged to put up with Hobson's choice, 

 because the water in the deserts is often brackish. But 

 if they are getting sufficient salt in or with their food, 

 and they are given their choice between brackish 

 water and sweet, they would drink the latter ; though 

 this, again, will depend very much on the locality they 

 come from. 



A camel in the cold season does not like cold run- 

 ning water, and if possible it is better to water him out 

 of a hole or tank containing still water which has been 

 exposed to the sun for a few hours. This is also 

 purely a question of habit, and at all seasons a desert 

 camel will prefer still water to running. This is not 

 to be wondered at, for as a rule the so-called wells 

 are nothing more or less than shallow holes some- 



