26 Anecdotal Natural History. 



performed without much trouble, and many savage 

 grunts on the part of the camel, and when fairly loaded, 

 his first endeavour is always to get free of his burden, 

 or, failing that, to ruin every article included in it. 



Then, at night, when it is time to unload, the cross- 

 grained animal has to be compelled to kneel by main 

 force, and his head tied to his fore legs in such a 

 manner that he cannot rise until the proper time. An 

 experienced traveller says that he has never yet seen a 

 camel in anything but a bad temper, at any rate, to 

 nidge by appearances. 



Besides its use as a beast of burden, the camel is 

 of service to its masters in various other ways. Its 

 milk, for example, is a standard article of food, and 

 is mostly kept until quite sour, the Arabs considering 

 it to be then a much greater dainty than when it is 

 sweet and fresh. A very inferior kind of butter is 

 churned from the cream by pouring it backwards and 

 forwards in a goat skin for a certain time. 



The flesh of the camel is considered a great dainty, 

 but is very seldom eaten, owing to the value of the 

 animal. Occasionally, however, a rich Arab will kill 

 one of his camels, and invite all his friends to a feast, 

 at which the flesh of the slaughtered animal appears 

 as the crowning delicacy. 



At certain times of the year the camel sheds its 

 hair, which is collected, and being spun into thread, 

 is used in making garments. Certain portions of it 

 are also utilized for the ' camel's hair pencils ' used by 

 artists. 



THE two-humped or Bactrian camel, which is found 

 throughout Central Asia and China, though now 

 almost entirely used for the saddle, was at one time 

 put to a very curious use. The East India Company 

 formed a regiment of these animals, each being pro- 



