i 4 4 THE CAMEL 



and vigorous * ; and bring back the fame animals 

 fo meager, that they commonly fell at a low price 

 to the Arabs of the Defert, to be again fattened. 

 We arc told by the ancients, that camels are 

 in a condition for propagating at the age of three 

 years f. This affertion is fufpicious ; for, in 

 three years, they have not acquired one half of 

 their growth if. The penis of the male, like that 

 of the bull, is very long, and very (lender |[. 

 During ere&ion, it ftretches forward, like that 

 of all other quadrupeds; but, in its ordinary 

 ftate, the fheath is drawn backward, and the urine 

 is difcharged from between the hind legs § ; fo 



that 



* When the camels begin their journey, it is necelfary 

 that they fnould be fat ; for, when this animal has travelled 

 forty or fifty days without having barley to eat, the fat of 

 the bunches begins to diminifh, then that of the belly, and, 

 laftly, that of the limbs ; after which he is no longer able to 

 carry his load. . . . The caravans of Africa, which travel 

 to ./Ethiopia, never think of bringing back their camels ; be- 

 caufe they tranfport no heavy goods from that country ; and, 

 when they arrive, they fell their meager animals ; & Afrique 

 de Marmol, torn. i. p. 49. — Camelos macilentos, dorfique vul- 

 neribus faucios, vili pretio Defertorum incolis faginandos di- 

 vendunt ; Leon. Afric. dejeript. Africae, vol. 2. p. 479. 



f Incipit mas et foemina coire in trimatu ; Arijl. H'tfl. 

 anim. lib. 5. cap. 14. 



1 In the year 1752, we faw a female camel of three years 

 of "age. . . . She had not acquired above one half of her 

 itature ; Hi/?. Nat. des Animaux, par Mef. Arnault de NMevitlc 

 ct Salerr.e, tcm. 4. p. 126. et 130. 



|| Though the camel is a large animal, his penis, which is 

 at leafi three feet long, is not thicker than the little finger of 

 a man ; Voyage d'Olearius, torn. 1. p. 554. 



§ The camels difcharge their urine backward. Perfons 



unacquainted 



