442 



THE CLOVEN-HOOFED ANIMALS. 



hour, carrying a load of three hundred pounds, and 

 is able to march for twelve hours, or even longer, 

 without a rest. 

 Requisites for a The Arab requires three things from 

 Good Saddle a good Dromedary: it must have a 

 Camel. gQft back, must not require a whip, 



and must not cry when getting up or lying down. 

 Only he who has had experience with Camels knows 

 what this means. An ordinary baggage Camel is the 

 most disagreeable of all animals to ride. The un- 

 even, jolting, pacing gait causes the rider to be jerked 

 up and down, back and forth, describing curious 

 curves, comparable to the lines of a figure described 

 by a Chinese pagoda set in motion. As soon as the 

 Camel begins to trot, matters assume a different as- 

 pect. The steady alternating movement of the legs 

 on the opposite side stops the sidewise jolting mo- 

 tion, and if the rider skillfully lies back in the saddle, 

 he experiences no more inconvenience from the still 

 somewhat violent shaking-up than he would if he 

 were on Horseback. A Camel in a fit of rage always 

 goes at a gallop, but it is not capable of keeping this 

 pace up for any length of time; neither does it need 

 to, for usually -the rider who has not a very firm seat 

 in his saddle, lies on the ground within the few very 

 first minutes, while the Camel gallops on at its sweet 

 will and soon resumes its usual gait. For these rea- 

 sons the Arabs have accustomed their riding Camels 

 to go only at a trot. 



A Dromedary reared on the plains can be used to 

 only a limited extent in a mountainous country, as it 

 climbs with great difficulty. In the water the ani- 

 mal is at a still greater disadvantage. Even when 

 driven into a small stream or pool to drink it acts as 

 if insane; but when it has to cross a wide stream it 

 becomes much worse. As it can not swim, and the, 

 ferry-boats are usually too small to accommodate 

 the unwieldy creature, the driver compels it to enter 

 the water, alongside of the boat, prevents it from 

 sinking by keeping hold of its head and tail, and 

 thus drags it over to the place of landing. 

 Mental and Phys- The vocal utterance of the Drome- 

 ical Characteris- dary is indescribable. Gurgling 

 tics of Camels. and moaning, grunting, growling 

 and roaring alternate in the most curious way. 

 Among the perceptive senses that of hearing is 

 probably best developed, for the sight seems to be 

 much less acute and the sense of smell is certainly 

 weak. The sense of touch, however, seems to be 

 delicate and that of taste is occasionally manifested. 

 On the whole the Camel must be regarded as a 

 creature of poorly developed physical senses. A 

 judgment of its mental faculties is not much more 

 favorable. It can not be denied that the Drome- 

 dary possesses a really surprising faculty for annoy- 

 ing a person incessantly and in almost unheard of 

 ways. Stupidity and a vicious disposition are gen- 

 erally found together ; but if they are combined 

 with cowardice, obstinacy, a sulky temper, an aver- 

 sion to everything sensible, hatred or indifference 

 toward the keeper and benefactor, and a hundred 

 other vices, all possessed by the same brute and 

 practiced by it to perfection, it is enough to drive 

 insane the person who has to deal with such a crea- 

 ture. He thoroughly understands and appreciates 

 this, who has been thrown from the back of a 

 .Camel, trampled on by it, bitten, forsaken in the 

 wilderness and mocked at, after the creature has 

 vexed him hourly for days and weeks with inex- 

 haustible perseverance, and after all means of im- 

 provement and castigation have been in vain applied 



to the beast. It is of no moment in this connection 

 — and we do not hold the facts in malice against it — 

 that the Camel exhales an odor, compared with which 

 the stench of a Billy-goat is perfume, that it tortures 

 the ear by its roar as much as it does the nose by 

 its stench and the eye by the forced sight of its 

 unspeakably stupid head on its long, ostrich-like 

 neck; what gives it so low a place in my opinion is 

 that it always deliberately acts contrary to its mas- 

 ter's will. Among the thousands of Camels which I 

 observed in Africa, I saw only one that displayed 

 anything approaching affection towards its master. 

 These remarks apply to the Dromedary only within 

 certain restrictions, however. Many travelers have 

 not undergone such unpleasant experiences, and 

 the Dromedaries of other and much more extensive 

 regions than that to which my observation was con- 

 fined are judged much more leniently. According 

 to popular report those of southwestern Asia, the 

 Somal country, and the Sahara, must be animals of 

 an entirely different stamp. 



Reproduction of The female gives birth to a single 

 Camels and Appear- young one. It is true that the infant 

 ance of Young. jg g. misshapen little creature from 

 the very first day of its life, but it has something droll 

 and playful about it, like all young animals. It is 

 born with open eyes and covered with long, thick, 

 soft woolly hair. The hump is very small and the 

 callosities are barely indicated. In size it consider- 

 ably surpasses a newborn colt; for it is rather more 

 than three feet high and much taller after the lapse 

 of one week. With advancing growth the wool 

 becomes much thicker and longer and the young 

 Camel develops a really striking resemblance to its 

 American relative, the Alpaca. Almost immedi- 

 ately after its birth it begins to follow its mother 

 about, she caring for it with great solicitude. If 

 two mothers with their colts happen to meet, the 

 latter play with each other in the most amiable way, 

 while the mothers grunt in approbation. The Camel 

 suckles her young upwards of a year and shows un- 

 usual courage during this time, defending her off- 

 spring to the extent of her strength if circumstances 

 require it. But she only cares for her own infant, 

 never for a strange one. 



Economic J- Williams pronounces the flesh of 



Value of the young Camels one of the greatest 



Camel. delicacies. The hide is manufactured 



into tent covering and various utensils, though the 



leather is not very durable while the hair is woven 



into strong textures. The milk of the animal is so 



thick and rich in fat as to be repulsive to the taste of 



Man, and is therefore but little used. 



The Two Humped '^^^ part which the Dromedary 



orBactrian plays within its range is almost sim- 



Camel. jiar to that of the Bactrian Camel 



( Camelus bactrianus) in east and central Asia. It is 



to be distinguished from the Dromedary by its two 



humps, one rising on the withers, the other in front 



of the croup. In form it is lumbering and clumsy, 



the bulk of the body being greater and the hair 



much more copious than that of the Dromedary; the 



color also is generally darker, usually a deep' brown,. 



with a ruddy tint in summer. 



I have become doubtful as to whether or not the 

 Bactrian Camel ought to be considered a species dis- 

 tinct from the Dromedary. The two readily breed 

 together, and their hybrid offspring may in turn con- 

 tinue the mixed species by breeding with each other 

 with either variety of the parent stock. If we admit 

 their identity of species, we would have to regard 



