308 ECONOMIC MAMALOGY 



hide "has a market value of roughly a shilling a pound." "The fat 

 also makes very acceptable lard and sells for the same price as the 

 hide." 4 



Each hippopotamus "has two sickle-shaped canine teeth and two 

 straight incisors, probably for defense. . . . These teeth are the whitest 

 and hardest ivory known, much in demand for piano keys and den- 

 tistry. Many hippopotami are killed for them alone, but a big speci- 

 men will yield in addition a ton of excellent fat, and of the tough hide 

 the Kourbash whip is made." 5 



FAMILY CAMELIDAE CAMELS, LLAMAS, ALPACAS, ETC. 



Camels were domesticated in very ancient times. In certain desert 

 regions of Africa and Asia they are indispensable animals, "ships of 

 the desert." There are about 3,000,000 of them in tropical and oriental 

 countries, and during the Crimean war 25,000 of them were pressed 

 into service. 1 "Field Marshall Lord Allenby, the conqueror of Jerusa- 

 lem, is said to have used as many as 60,000 camels in his campaign 

 against the Turks during the World War. Here it was fully demon- 

 strated that the camel in his own country and climate is vastly su- 

 perior to the horse or mule as an army transport." 2 They carry persons 

 or heavy loads of merchandise on their backs and are sometimes used 

 to draw wheeled vehicles. A load is usually from 350 to 600 pounds, 

 but sometimes they carry 1300 pounds or more, and travel from 25 

 to 30 miles a day. In Texas, 3 six-mule teams (18 mules) hauled 

 4400 pounds 60 miles in five days, while 6 camels carried 3648 pounds 

 60 miles in two and one-half days. In 1856 and 1857, the government 

 imported 75 camels for use as beasts of burden in the arid portions 

 oi southwestern United States. The experiment, not a fair one and 

 interrupted by the Civil War, was a failure, and was abandoned in 

 1867 or thereabouts. 3 



Fast saddle dromedaries (one-humped camels), formerly much 

 used, could travel very rapidly for a day or two. "Couriers often did 

 the 240 miles to and from Mecca in 48 hours on the same dromedary." 



4 Hubbard, Journ. Mammalogy, x, 296, 1929. 

 6 Jennison, Natural history: animals, p. 308, 1927. 



1 Austin, Queer methods of travel in curious corners of the world, Natl. Geog. 

 Mag., xvin, 688, 1907. 



2 Blair, In the zoo, p. 68, 1929. 



8 Carroll, The government's importation of camels, U. S. Bureau of Animal 

 Industry Circular No. 53, 1904; reprinted from 20th Ann. Rept., pp. 391-409, 1903. 

 Leslie, Uncle Sam's camels, Harvard Univ. Press. 



