152 THE CAMEL 



Difference available. The desert tribes, dependent as they are on 

 ment be- camels for their very existence, consequently mindful of 

 tives and" their interests and their animals, are -very careful on this 

 point, and even when carrying loads on the march they 

 allow them to graze as they drive them along. Whereas 

 in the service our drivers, unmindful and ignorant 

 of the animal's peculiarities, and utterly oblivious of 

 his welfare, will curl themselves under a bush and 

 go to sleep, leaving them to eat whatever is in the way, 

 ignorant and regardless of the fact that close by, on the 

 opposite side of the watercourse perhaps, pasturage is 

 plentiful and excellent. This shows that, unless you 

 have trustworthy drivers, constant supervision is 

 necessary ; for never lose sight of the fact that the 

 camel does not thrive on fodder which he has not been 

 bred up on, but that if driven to it he will eat any- 

 thing, even poisonous herbs ; and, in spite of his size, 

 and of the extra-abstaining capacity of his internal 

 structure, his digestive organs are not proportionally 

 strong or perhaps I should say that when the animal 

 is fatigued the stomach, 'which in its construction is 

 purely muscular, becomes exhausted also, and its 

 action is impaired, the third and fourth compartments 

 especially failing in their digestive power. It stands 

 to reason, therefore, that a large grain ration given 

 when they are in this state is highly injurious, to say 

 the least of it ; but, all the same, I have seen this done 

 time after time in Afghanistan, with fatal consequences 

 indigestion and colic, ending frequently in death. I 

 have been present when several camels have been 

 dissected, and the quantity of undigested barley found 

 in their stomachs was more than enough to account 



