438 



THE CLOVEN-HOOFED ANIMALS. 



ger and thirst a long time. Their usual gait is a 

 heavy, jerky amble, and their course appears waver- 

 ing and awkward in the extreme, although it is really 

 adapted to the speedy traversing of long distances. 

 The wild species are all gregarious and live in herds; 

 Their mental endowments are on a rather low plane, 

 and their moral attributes worse yet. They can not 

 be termed gentle, good-natured, sagacious or patient 

 animals, though they assume the yoke of servi- 

 tude and acknowledge human supremacy with a cer- 

 tain exhibition of resignation. There is only a single 

 young one at a birth, and the mother bestows much 

 loving care on it. 



THE CAMELS PROPER. 



The true Camels (Camelus), all Old-World forms, 

 are distinguished by their large size and by the pres- 

 ence of either one or two humps on the back; they 

 possess two more molars in each jaw than the Llamas 

 or New World species. Their form is ungainly, 

 the head being especially ugly; the hair is very un- 

 even, longer in some places on the body than in 

 others, but on the whole woolly. Callosities are 

 found on the chest and the joints of the legs wher- 

 ever they come in contact with the ground as the 

 animal kneels to receive a load or when it lies down 

 to rest. There are two species, one predominating 

 in Africa, the other in Asia. They are the Drome- 

 dary and the Bactrian Camel, respectively. 



Traits and Char- The Dromedary is doubtless the most 

 acteristic of useful of all African domestic ani- 



Dromedaries. m als; but it is also the most una- 

 miable, stupid, obstinate and disagreeable creature 

 imaginable; certainly those with which I came in 

 contact deserve such an arraignment. It is indebted 

 for its good reputation solely to its physical attri- 

 butes; its mental qualities have not been praised 

 even by an Arab, though hundreds of that race could 

 not live without this animal. 



The Dromedary, or one-humped Camel (Camelus 

 dromedarius) , called Djemmel in Arabia, is a very 

 large Ruminant, averaging in height from six feet, 

 eight inches, to seven feet, eight inches, and a 

 length of from ten to eleven feet, counting from 

 the tip of the muzzle to the end of the tail. Though 

 the Camel does not exist in such a variety of breeds 

 as does the Horse, yet it is subject to numerous 

 artificial modifications. In general it may be as- 

 serted that the Camels of the plains or the desert 

 are slender, tall, long-legged creatures, while those 

 indigenous to fertile countries, especially to north- 

 ern Africa, are clumsy, heavy animals. Between 

 a " Bisharin," that is, a Camel bred by the Bisharin 

 wandering tribes, and an Egyptian baggage Camel, 

 the difference is as great as that between an Arab 

 steed and a cart Horse. The former Camel is excel- 

 lent for riding purposes, while the latter is one of 

 the strongest beasts of burden in the service of Man. 



The Arabs enumerate over twenty different breeds 

 of the "ships of the desert," for there is a science 

 of the breeds of Camels as there is of those of 

 Horses, and in speaking of the Dromedary, one 

 also uses the terms "noble" or "thoroughbred" 

 or "common." In the typical specimen of the 

 Dromedary the following are the salient points: 

 The head is rather short, but the muzzle is long and 

 bulging; the eyes are large and of dull expression, 

 the ears very small but mobile. The neck is long, 

 laterally compressed and thickest in the middle. 

 The body is protuberant and rounded on all sides. 

 The hump stands erect but is subject to great modi- 



fications in size at different seasons of the year. 

 The more abundant the nourishment of the Camel, 

 the larger the hump; the more its fare is restricted 

 the more the hump shrinks. With fat, well nour- 

 ished animals it is conical in shape and covers at 

 least one- fourth of the back; but in quite lean spec- 

 imens it almost entirely disappears. During the 

 rainy season, which implies succulent pasturage, the 

 hump, which during the dry months of hunger had 

 been barely visible, grows at an astonishing rate, 

 and its weight may then amount to as much as 

 thirty pounds, while under the contrary circum- 

 stances it can diminish to four or six pounds. The 

 legs are awkwardly placed, and the hinder thighs, 

 especially, protrude so far from the body that they 

 accentuate the uncouth appearance of the animal. 

 The tail has a thin tuft of hair at its extremity and 

 descends to the ankle joint. The hair is soft and 

 woolly, and is much longer on the top of the head, 

 on the neck beneath the throat, on the shoulders 

 and on the hump, and greatly thickened in the tail 

 tuft. Another peculiarity is to be noted in the cal- 

 losities on the breast and joints of the legs, which 

 grow larger and harder with advancing age. The 

 callosity on the chest projects like a hump beyond 

 the other portions of the skin of the breast, and 

 forms a cushion for the body to rest upon when the 

 animal lies down. 



The color of the animal varies widely and con- 

 stantly. A light sandy color is the hue most fre- 

 quently met with, and there are also gray, brown or 

 quite black Camels, or individuals with paler or 

 lighter feet, but no pied ones. 



The Range of At present the Dromedary is known 

 the Drome- only as a domestic animal; it is 

 dary. found in all African countries from 



the Mediterranean to about the twelfth parallel of 

 north latitude, in the Somal country to the fifth 

 parallel, and in southwestern Asia. It ranges from 

 Bokhara and Turcomania, in the extreme east, where 

 the Two-humped Camel begins, throughout Persia, 

 Asia Minor, Syria, Arabia and northern Africa to 

 the Atlantic Ocean. But it is also found on the 

 Canary Isles, and has been introduced into Australia, 

 North America, Italy and southern Spain. It thrives 

 fairly well in the dry stretches of northern India. 

 Hans Meyer informs us that the Dromedary is em- 

 ployed in the oil-mills of the sultan of Zanzibar, but 

 that it suffers greatly in health and comfort from 

 the effects of the climate. It seems to have originally 

 come from Arabia, and it probably was introduced 

 into northern Africa in comparatively modern times. 

 But of its origin nothing is certainly known. The 

 old Egyptian monuments show no picture of this 

 notable animal, neither do the Roman and Greek 

 authors who traveled in Egypt allude to the Camel 

 as an indigenous product. In the Bible the animal 

 is frequently mentioned under the name of Gamal. 

 Job is said to have possessed at one time three thou- 

 sand, and later six thousand Camels; the Midianites 

 and Amalekites had as many "as the sands of the 

 sea." The animal was used in precisely the same 

 way as it is now. It was distributed through north- 

 ern Africa, being probably introduced by the Arabs. 

 Its domestication took place in prehistoric times. 

 Wild Camels, or such as have reverted to savagery, 

 are nowhere to be found at present. 



The Camel a The Camel is a genuine animal of 



Son of the the desert and thrives only in the 



Desert driest and hottest portions of the 



globe, while it languishes and perishes away in cul- 



