THE CAMEL. 185 



the various parts from injury, and prevent tlie skin from cracking 

 ■while it is kneeling down, or otherwise in contact with the hot 

 sand. The feet are divided in a somewhat similar manner to 

 those of an ox, but the toes are not externally separated, and 

 have hoofs on the extreme points. The soles are soft, elastic, 

 remarkably broad, and are made spongy or like a cushion to pre- 

 vent the animal sinking in the yielding sand, on which it is con- 

 sequently enabled to advance with only a slight impression. They 

 also give the creature that silent tread for which it is noted. 

 Mr. Charles MacFarlane ^ says about this peculiarity: "What 

 always struck me as something extremely romantic and mysterious 

 was the noiseless step of the camel, from the spongy nature of his 

 foot. Whatever be the nature of the ground, sand or rock, or turf, 

 or paved stones, you hear no footfall ; you see an immense animal 

 approaching you stilly, as a cloud floating in air, and unless he 

 wear a bell your sense of hearing, acute as it may be, will give 

 you no intimation of his presence." 



Camels have long joints, which give them a lofty step and a con- 

 sequent rapid progression over soft surfaces. The nostrils, which 

 are narrow, oblique slits defended with hair at their margins, are 

 further provided with a beautiful muscular arrangement that 

 enables the animal to open or close them at will, after the manner 

 of the eyelid, and it is thus in a position to contract the apertures 

 and exclude from the tender air-passages the burning particles of 

 sand that sweep across the desert in those terrible simooms or 

 sand-storms common in the Bast. The upper lip, it is worthy of 

 notice, is split from the nostril to the mouth by a deep fissure. 



The powerful upper incisor teeth with which the jaw is provided 

 confer on the animal the ability of gathering the prickly shrubs 

 or dry, stunted herbage of the desert. The tough stems are 

 easily cut by their aid, and they can eat as they go along. 



Camels are said to be endowed with an acute sense of smell, 

 which is often strikingly displayed on the long and weary marches 

 across unknown tracts, for they have been known to break away 

 and make straight for a spring some distance off" that remained 

 undetected by other animals or by the accompanying men. Their 



* " Constantinople in 1828." 



