706 SPEED OF THE CAMEL. 



accumulated by a young and untried animal. It is supposed that the Camel is, in some 

 way, able to dilate the honeycomb cells, and to force them to receive a large quantity 

 of the priceless liquid. 



A large and experienced Camel will receive five or six quarts of water into its 

 stomach, and is enabled to exist for as many days without needing to drink. Aided 

 by this internal supply of water, the Camel can satiate its hunger by browsing on the 

 hard and withered thorns that are found scattered thinly through the deserts, and 

 suffers no injury to its palate from their iron-like spears, that would direfully wound the 

 mouth of any less sensitive creature. The Camel has even been known to eat pieces 

 of dry wood, and to derive apparent satisfaction from its strange meal. 



The feet of the Camel 'are well adapted for walking upon the loose dry sand, than 

 which substance is no more uncertain footing. The toes are very broad, and are 

 furnished with soft, wide cushions, that present a considerable surface to the loose soil, 

 and enable the animal to maintain a firm hold upon the shifting sands. As the Camel 

 is constantly forced to kneel in order to be loaded or relieved of its burden, it is 

 furnished upon the knees and breast with thick callous pads, which support its weight 

 without injuring the skin. Thus fitted by nature for its strange life, the Camel faces 

 the desert sands with boldness, and traverses the arid regions with an ease and quiet 

 celerity that has gained for the creature the title of Ship of the Desert. 



The Camel is invariably employed as an animal of carriage, when in its native land, 

 and is able to support a load of five or six hundred pounds' weight without being over- 

 loaded. The Arab will not willingly injure his Camel by placing too heavy a burden 

 upon its back, but in India, and some other countries where the Camel has been 

 naturalized and domesticated, its treatment is barbarous in the extreme. Hundreds 

 of valuable animals are annually sacrificed on account of the covetousness of their 

 owners, who know that they will receive payment for every Camel that falls upon the 

 journey, and are consequently indifferent to the suffering and condition of those 

 animals which they have nominally taken under their care. 



The pace of the Camel is not nearly so rapid as is generally supposed, and even 

 the speed of the Heirie, or swift Camel, has been greatly exaggerated. " In crossing 

 the Nubian desert," says Captain Peel, " I paid constant attention to the march of the 

 Camels, hoping it might be of some service hereafter in determinating our position. 

 The number of strides in a minute with the same foot varied very little, only from 

 thirty-seven to thirty-nine, and thirty-eight was the average; but the length of the 

 stride was more uncertain, varying from six feet six inches to seven feet six inches. 

 As we were always urging the Camels, who seemed, like ourselves, to know the neces- 

 sity of pushing on across that fearful tract, I took seven feet as the average. These 

 figures give a speed of 2*62 geographical miles per hour, or exactly three English 

 miles, which may be considered as the highest speed that Camels, lightly loaded, can 

 keep up on a journey. In general, it will not be more than two and a half English 

 miles. My dromedary was one of the tallest, and the seat of the saddle was six feet 

 six inches above the ground." 



The speed of the Heirie is seldom more than eight or ten miles per hour, but the 

 endurance of the animal is so wonderful, that it is able to keep up this pace for twenty 

 hours without stopping. To back a Heirie at full speed is a terrible task, as the pecul- 

 iar jolting trot at which the animal proceeds is so rough and irregular that it seems to 

 dislocate every bone, and to shake the digestive organs almost out of their places. It 

 is needful for any one who wishes to make a long journey on one of these animals to 

 swathe himself tightly in bandages, in order to save himself from the ill effects of long 

 continued jolting. 



The gentle disposition and sweet temper of the Camel is quite as imaginary as its 

 speed, for the creature is truly an ill-conditioned and morose beast, ever apt to bite, 

 and so combative as to engage in terrible conflicts with its own species as soon as it is 

 relieved of its load. Taking advantage of this disposition, the native chiefs will often 

 amuse themselves by combats between fighting Camels, which are trained for the pur- 

 pose, like the fighting tigers and buffaloes of India. 



The true disposition of the Camel is told in a very spirited manner by the author of 

 " Life among the Pandies." 



