FEEDING 153 



for death. This is the stage when a few hours' grazing 

 not only gives the wearied animals time to regain their 

 energy, but time to restore the tired internal organs to 

 their ordinary state of vigour, and to enable them to 

 resume their normal functions ; then, if water is avail- 

 able, let them have a small drink, and shortly after 

 give them a small feed of grain. If there is no graz- 

 ing, serve them out a small supply of chopped straw, 

 but on no account grain. Should there be no chopped 

 straw, allow them to rest for an hour or two, then 

 a small drink, followed by a small ration of grain. 

 And if these also are not to be had, as has often been 

 the lot of the camel I have worked with, and this 

 state of things goes on day after day, on the top of in- 

 cessant toil and marching, it is needless for me to say 

 what becomes of the poor creatures. The vultures and 

 other carrion birds could tell, and the skeletons that in- 

 variably dot the track taken by a British force would 

 in themselves furnish the enthusiastic inquirer with a 

 history sad but more eminently eloquent than the 

 concentrated essence of the descriptive powers of all 

 the transport officers in existence, even did they wield 

 the pen of a Kinglake or Napier. Moral. Do not feed 

 camels on grain if they have not been accustomed to it ; 

 and if they have, only on that particular grain, in small 

 quantities and in the way I have described. And, above 

 all, do not starve and overwork them. 



During the Afghan campaign, 1878-80, firstly, Treatment 

 because we were perpetually and continuously on the Afghan 

 move, and had no time allowed for grazing ; secondly, 

 for the simple reason that no other food was procurable, 

 we fed our camels on barley and ' bhoosa ' (chopped 



