4622 THE ZooLOGIST—SEPTEMBER, 1875. 
travellers. McKinlay found a decided convenience in the height 
of his back, as compared with that of the horse, in keeping the 
supplies of the party out of the water on the occasion of traversing 
the flooded parts of the march. But both horse and camel alike 
proved useful in other ways less premeditated. Necessity cures 
many prejudices, and hunger is a sauce to reconcile us to a very 
miscellaneous diet. As the stock diminished, and as the appetite in- 
creased, even horseflesh proved no unsavoury morsel—lean, tough, 
and jaded as it too often was. Horse after horse fell under the 
‘jerking’ process, consisting of cutting the flesh into long strips to 
be dried in the sun. The camel, too, took his turn under the knife, 
and our travellers were even far more anxious to secure an adequate 
quantity than to differ about the quality of their fare. Only once 
was the case otherwise, when one of the camels, ‘ old and worn out, 
with sores all over him, was doomed to the knife and the jerking. 
Refractory even in the pot, the tough liver and kidneys defy the 
teeth of the hungry travellers, and the cook is able to boast for once 
on the journey that there was superfluity on the board.” 
Mr. Elder’s camels have made a number of trips with stores to 
northern stations, bringing back wool, which is packed in smaller 
bales than usual for the purpose of easy handling and carriage, and 
is slung, one bale on each side of a pack-saddle. They were also 
employed in the construction of the Trans-Continental Telegraph 
line; and were found most useful in transporting posts, &c. In 
short, both Mr. Elder and those who have had the care and charge 
of them since their arrival, have formed a high opinion of their value, 
of their capacity for work, and of their suitability for many places 
and purposes where, or for which, cattle and horses could not be 
used. * * * No sufficient estimate of their powers could be ob- 
tained from MeKinlay’s journey, for he was hampered by a flock of 
sheep, and from the nature of the country the camels became foot- 
sore, and had to be fitted with boots or hides of leather. Still he 
was favourably impressed with their powers of endurance when 
fed upon the roughest or poorest scrub, and his horses on several 
occasions fell away rapidly and alarmingly in condition, whilst the 
camels caused no anxiety on this account. Colonel Warburton’s 
expedition may therefore be regarded as the first true trial of the 
capability of the camel for exploring purposes in Australia.— 
Journey across the Western Interior of Australia, by Colonel Peter 
Egerton Warburton, p. 118. 
