THE CAMEL. 187 



recuperated, is admirably exhibited in the two illustrations given 

 herewith, which are reproductions of photographs taken by- 

 Messrs. Briggs and. Son, of High Street, St. John's "Wood. The 

 first one was taken a few days after the animals, at present in the 

 Zoological Gardens, arrived there, which they did in a fearful 

 condition of sickness and prostration. Their history is this : 

 After the battle of El Teb, and the complete rout of Osman 

 Digna's brave Soudanese, an officer observed among the dying 

 and the dead that lay scattered over the battle-field, several 

 wounded animals^ and noticeably a fine female camel, with the 

 blood flowing from several cuts, and by her side was the young 

 one, who appeared to have been untouched. He determined to 

 try and save the poor beasts, and succeeded so far that he had 

 them conveyed to the steamer and shipped home to the care of 

 the Zoological Society. On their arrival at Portsmouth they 

 were met by a man sent down on purpose. They were absolutely 

 so exhausted they were unable to stand up, and had to be placed 

 in slings before they could be moved. In this way they were 

 taken off the ship and placed on a railway car, ultimately, after 

 considerable trouble, reaching the gardens alive. The wounds 

 on the older animal refused to heal ; she was merely a bag of 

 bones, could not stand on her feet, and was a most unpleasant 

 object in every way to contemplate. It was decided at last to put 

 her out of her misery, and Mr. Bartlett had reluctantly to tele- 

 graph to her owner, Mr. J. T. St. Aubyn, for permission to do so. 

 He was, fortunately, away on leave, so the telegram did not reach 

 him until ten days afterwards; for meanwhile the careful attention 

 and humane treatment shown the poor beast had begun to tell, 

 and she showed signs of increasing strength, and ultimately ab- 

 solutely recovered. Both these animals now do their daily share 

 to amuse the visitors to the gardens by carrying the children 

 about on their backs, and they are in splendid condition, as is 

 shown by their appearance in the second photograph. 



A camel requires to drink about once in three days, and it 

 generally imbibes from thirty to forty pints at once. It will drink 

 anything that can be called fi^esh water, however foul it may be. 

 The animal's stomach is beautifully constructed to hold water in 



