176 WILD ANIMALS. 



subjection to man's controlling power, such as horses, asses, sheep, 

 oxen, pigs, &o., have still numerous congeners in a state of nature 

 roaming free, the camels, when even the small herd of wild ones 

 are taken into account, remain man's most complete slaves of the 

 animal world. And of all creatures that God made to have a co- 

 existence with him on this earth none have been so useful, or so 

 necessary; neither are there any to whom he is indebted more 

 than to these most ancient and laborious servants. 



If, as it has been asserted by some historians, human civilization 

 has in a great measure been dependent on the presence or absence 

 of animals capable of domestication, camels must have contributed 

 very considerably to the world's progress, as from time immemorial 

 they undoubtedly have to its wealth. In the earliest chapters 

 of the Bible we are told that Jacob divided " his flocks and herds 

 and camels into two bands," and that he gave his brother Esau 

 " thirty milch camels with their colts." 



This animal, so aptly called " the ship of the desert," was even 

 then a beast of burden and the medium of commerce, for when 

 Joseph was sold into captivity by his brethren " they lifted up their 

 eyes and, behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with 

 their camels, bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it 

 down to Egypt." In fact it was a trading caravan, and the camels 

 were the most conspicuous objects in it, just as they are at the 

 present day. And not only did they carry merchandise and produce 

 to other countries, but they were the means whereby information 

 and news were disseminated, and by enabling intercourse were 

 instrumental in uniting different tribes and people; and in this way 

 an interest in each other's welfare was fostered, the concomitant 

 result being that enterprise was stimulated, knowledge spread, and 

 civilization advanced. 



These strange and uncouth-looking animals are, in fact, wonderful 

 and unaltered links in the chain that binds us to the past. Eeview- 

 ing ancient history from our present standpoint, it is difficult to 

 surmise what the world would have done without them. By their 

 subjection those most interesting dwellers of the desert, the 

 nomadic people of the Eastern plains and those merchant princes 

 of olden times, who were the first traders from the great cities, 



