522 UNGULATA. 



unaccustomed dainty. The long hair of the Camel is spun into a coarse 

 thread, and is employed in the manufacture of broad-cloths and similar 

 articles. At certain times of the year, the Camel sheds its hair, in order 

 to replace its old coat by a new one, and the Arabs avail themselves ot 

 the looseness with which the hair is at these times adherent to the skin, 

 to pluck it away without injuring the animal. 



The name of caravan has been given to companies formed in the 

 desert by the assemblage of travelers, who thus, through numbers, avoid 

 the insults and robberies of the brigands scattered around and over its 

 immense confines. These caravans use Camels and Dromedaries for 

 their beasts of transport ; the former are loaded with the baggage and 

 provisions, the latter are reserved to carry the travelers. When all are 

 loaded and ready to start, an Arab, who acts as guide, precedes them, 

 the Camels and Dromedaries following in line. This guide sings a 

 monotonous and modulated plaintive song, indicating to his attendants 

 by the quickness or slowness of its measure, when they are to increase 

 or slacken their pace. When the guide's voice ceases, the whole troop 

 halts and kneels to be unloaded, and they are turned loose to gather the 

 scanty herbage found in the vicinity. 



THE CAMEL OF BACTRIA. 



The Bactrian or Two-humped Camel, Camelus Bactrianus (Plate 

 XXXIX), is distinguished by two humps, one at the withers, another at 

 the rump. 



The general formation of this animal; its lofty neck, raising its head 

 high above the solar radiations from the heated ground ; its valve-like 

 nostrils, that close involuntarily if a grain of drifting sand should invade 

 their precincts : its wide cushion-like feet, and its powers of abstinence, 

 prove that, like its Arabian relative, it is intended for the purpose ot 

 traversing vast deserts without needing refreshment on the way. This 

 species is spread through Central Asia, Thibet, and China, and is domes- 

 ticated through a large portion of the East. 



It is the beast of burden for the traffic between China and South 

 Siberia or Turkestan. The Kirghis Tartars set less store by it than the 

 horse, but the Mongols prize it as the Arabs prize the Dromedary. The 

 Bactrian Camel is much better tempered than the Arabian species ; it is 



