CAMELS FEOM THE SOUDAN. 



The two camels were presented to the Zoological 

 Society by John St. Aubyn, Esq., on June 6, 1884. 



Having been desired to send a keeper to receive them 

 and bring them to London, I, in accordance with this 

 request, despatched one of the keepers to Portsmouth for 

 that purpose. I was given to understand that the camels 

 had been found, by a man, on the battlefields after the 

 affair at El Teb, in a most pitiable condition. When this 

 keeper took charge of them, the largest (the mother of the 

 little one) was supported in slings, she not being able to 

 stand. She was covered with sores and abscesses, having 

 been wounded in several places; her bones were nearly 

 through her skin, and the skin was not only destitute of 

 hair, but was covered all over with filth and minute 

 parasites. Notwithstanding the wretched plight of this 

 poor animal, the keeper had her lifted and placed in a 

 conveyance, and brought her and her poor starving calf to 

 the Gardens. I was much shocked at the sight of them, 

 and had not a little fear that they might introduce some 

 disorder among our animals. 



To guard against this, I had them placed in an out- 

 building far away from the other camels. 



Their shocking condition caused me to ask permission 

 of the Society to have them destroyed, as an act of mercy, 

 believing it would be charitable to put them out of their 

 misery, for their recovery appeared to me to be hopeless. 



I had the mother again supported by slings in order 



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