GENERAL REMARKS 321 



in their condition undergo so severe and rapid a march. 

 especially in a country like Egypt and the Soudan, 

 where camels are bred in tens of thousands, and where 

 there would have been no difficulty whatever in having 

 3,000 fresh animals concentrated at Korti. Besides, it 

 is opposed to all principles of transport and common 

 sense to use animals on lines of communication for any 

 other purpose but working from stage to stage on those 

 lines. But where, oh ! where, is common sense to be 

 found, especially in connection with one of the chief 

 portions of our military machine ? ' Common ' sense, I 

 am afraid, is a misnomer ; ' uncommon ' would be far 

 more applicable. Further argument, however, is unne- 

 cessary. It is not from want of experience that we com- 

 mit such glaring faults ; it is because we conveniently 

 forget the lessons it has taught us. It is almost fifty years 

 ago since Sir Charles Napier whose views on transport 

 were very profound, and whose knowledge of camels was 

 sound took the most vigorous and effective measures to 

 form a Camel Corps and a baggage or Land Transport 

 Corps ; but, to quote from his ' Life ' : ' These two corps, 

 so admirable in conception, and afterwards found so well 

 adapted for actual service, were by Lord Dalhousie and 

 the Bombay Government abolished as their avowed 

 organs of the Press asserted to vex Sir Charles Napier.' 

 It seems almost incredible to think that this could have 

 happened in an enlightened country such as ours, and 

 in the face of so thoroughly practical an experience 

 such as Sir Charles had brought to bear on the subject ; 

 yet here we are, towards the end of this very advanced 

 nineteenth century, in as rotten a state of unpre- 

 paredness as ever we were ! For in all our recent 



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