CAMELS AND LLAMAS. 4° 7 



to the tail. The hump, when the animal is in good condition, stands upright, but it 

 alters considerably in shape according to age. The richer the food of the camel, 

 the larger is its hump ; while, when the food is poor and dry, the hump decreases 

 in size; and accordingly in the rainy season this appendage attains its maximum 

 development, while in the dry months it proportionately shrinks. In high-con- 

 ditioned animals, the hump should form a regular pyramid, and occupy at least a 

 quarter of the whole length, but when the animals are half -starved it almost dis- 

 appears. The hair is soft, and on the hinder part of the head, the neck and throat, 

 the shoulders, the hump, and the upper part of the fore-legs, is longer than else- 

 where. The colour of the hair is very variable, although a light sandy is the 

 most common hue ; there are, however, white, grey, brown, and even totally black 

 camels ; but those of the last-named colour are held by the Arabs to be worthless. 



There are numerous breeds of camels differing more or less 

 Various Breeds. . . 



from another, and the Arabs recognise no less than twenty distinct 



strains. Roughly speaking, they may, however, be divided into two classes, 



namely, baggage-camels and riding-camels, or dromedaries ; and Sir Samuel Baker 



observes that there " is the same difference between a good hygin, or dromedary. 



and a baggage-camel, as between the thoroughbred and the cart-horse ; and it 



appears absurd in the eyes of the Arabs that a man of any position should ride a 



baggage-camel. Apart from all ideas of etiquette, the motion of the latter animal 



is quite sufficient warning. Of all species of fatigue, the back-breaking monotonous 



swing of a heavy camel is the worst." The peculiarly unpleasant motion of even 



the best camels is due to the circumstance that the two legs of one side are moved 



simultaneously. The ordinary pace of a baggage-camel is from two and a half to 



three miles an hour when fully loaded, but a good dromedary will keep up a pace 



of from eight to ten miles an hour for a long period. 



Arabian camels are now found in the domesticated condition in 

 Habitat. 



all parts of Africa, lying between the Mediterranean and the 12th 



parallel of north latitude, while in Somaliland they extend as far south as the 5th 

 parallel. They are also widely distributed in South-Eastern Asia, ranging from the 

 lowlands of Afghanistan and Bokhara, where they impinge on the habitat of the 

 two-humped Bactrian camel, through North- Western India, Persia, Asia Minor, 

 Syria, and Arabia. In Asia Minor and Khorasan, there is a race of half-breeds 

 between the Arabian and the Bactrian camel ; this breed being known in the last- 

 named country as the Boghdi camel. According to Elphinstone, it has the two 

 humps of the Bactrian species, but the long limbs of the Arabian : and it appears 

 to be generally a product of crossing a male of the former with a female of the 

 latter. Arabian camels have also been introduced into the Canaries, Australia. 

 North America, Italy, the south of Spain, and Zanzibar. 



There has been much discussion as to what country was the original home of 

 the Arabian camel; but it has been considered that Arabia has the best title to 

 this honour. This conclusion appears to rest partly on the statements of Diodorus 

 Siculus and Strabo that wild camels existed in Arabia at the commencement of 

 the Christian era, and partly on the circumstance that no representations of camels 

 occur in the ancient Egyptian frescoes. Whatever may be the value of the state- 

 ments referred to, there can be no question but that the absence of pictures of 



