LOADING 183 



further instructed to kneel down and rise up. In his 

 fourth year the weight of the load is increased until he 

 gets accustomed to it, and so on gradually until he is 

 five years old (though I am sorry to say that the rule 

 is often broken through), when he reaches the maximum 

 weight and thoroughly understands what is required of 

 him. The course is now finished, and he is considered 

 fit for work. The riding camel is broken in somewhat 

 similarly, except that when he becomes used to the 

 imposition of a light weight he is ridden instead. 

 Sometimes the Arabs work them when only four 

 years old, and in our expeditions numbers of two- 

 and three-year olds have been sacrificed ; but to be 

 on the safe side, and as a wise and just measure, no 

 camel should carry a load until he is at least five years 

 old. 



Before concluding this chapter there is one very Keeping 

 great evil which I must call attention to, an evil due camels 

 entirely to want of system, and which has hitherto standm 

 been responsible for injury to numberless camels, 

 besides helping along with other causes to kill many ; 

 and that is, the evil of keeping loaded camels standing 

 for hours at a stretch in the cold of the early morning 

 prior to a march, or on the road owing to a block. 

 The first of these is easily avoidable by making 

 divisions, brigades, and regiments load and start at 

 different hours, according to their precedence of 

 march, instead of all loading and falling in at the same 

 time, which is invariably done. The second cannot 

 always be avoided, even under the best management 

 and with the greatest care, because, should a force 

 moving in several lines, as it would across a plain, be 



