510 [Assembly 



of the uses of camel or dromedary will be rapid travel, the milk of 

 the female, the flesh of the young ones and the hair of the old 

 ones. 



In February and March camels couple and bear until the ensu- 

 ing spring. In the rutting season the males are ungovernable 

 and dangerous even to their masters. The mother shows great 

 tenderness tor her young, which requires the same care as a colt 

 and the mother as much as the mare. When the young camel is 

 between four and five years old, they begin to try on the pack- 

 saddle. 



The coast of Algeria has no natural good harbors and they 

 must be made at great expense. 



Almost the whole of Algeria belongs to the transition order, 

 secondary and tertiary — all the rocks are of recent formation, the 

 greater portion of them being sedimentary. We know that soil 

 composed of these rocks is generally richer than that made by 

 the decomposition of crystalline rocks. Three calcareous varie- 

 ties prevail up to fins marble; there are clay marls, dolomites, 

 clay schistus, talcose, gypsum and gneiss. Another fact which 

 shows the richness of the soil — tlie greater part of the mountains 

 still retain a remarkable thickness of soil even upon their sum- 

 mits. I saw no where such peeled bare mountains as we have in 

 the south of France. This is owing to their not being cultivated. 

 In fact when a soil is abandoned it grows plants which perish on 

 it and annually enrich the soil where they grew, and their roots 

 retain the soil from washing away. 



The Arabs annually burn the bushes, &c., on their wild lands. 

 The spontaneous vegetation of the country is very rich even in 

 districts wliich, to the eye, augur badly for their fertility. The 

 Arabs, however, contrive to get from their farms only twelve or 

 fifteen bushels an acre of wheat or barley, for want of manure 

 and proper working ; they just scratch the ground making little 

 parallel furrows. 



Certain parts of the country are not fertile on account of the 

 sea salt prevailing in the soil. The Sebgha and the Scott are in 

 reality salt lakes towards the interior. The environs of Bone 



