FEEDING 155 



There are occasions and emergencies General 

 Eoberts's relief march to Candahar, or Sir Herbert 

 Stewart's dash across the Bayuda desert to rescue 

 Gordon when you must push on at all hazards. Then 

 in war, as in all speculations, it is, if not an absolute 

 necessity, at least justifiable to sacrifice life. And when 

 human lives are in jeopardy, to save them you must be 

 prepared to do so at the cost of animal life, providing 

 you are not utterly and cruelly reckless over it. In 

 such cases, when you are constantly on the move and 

 have no time, owing to the activity of the enemy or 

 from other unforeseen difficulties, you cannot graze them 

 (travelling, for example, across the desert from Korosko 

 to Abu Hamad, which is bare sand and rock), you must 

 give them rations. If obliged from necessity, and for Eations 

 no other reason, to give them, always serve out a few 

 handfuls of chaff all round at the end of the day's work, 

 and water, blanket up (if cold or damp at night), and 

 dole out the rest of the rations, the grain first, chaff 

 afterwards, so that they can munch it during the first 

 few hours, and chew the cud during the early hours of 

 the morning. Sometimes both are issued together, but 

 this is not a good plan ; given separately is much better. 

 For my own part I would sooner give a camel no 

 grain at all than barley, which I believe is bad for them, Grain, 

 except in very small quantities. It is heating and hard 

 to digest, and not very nutritious. Crushed barley is 

 not so bad ; but how are you to crush it on service ? 

 Gram and dourra (a khid of millet) are both very good, 

 and are, I consider, most suitable for the camel. He 

 can get a grip of them and masticate them well. They 

 are less heating and more nutritious than most grain. 



