THE CAMEL. . 189 



eat anything but thistles and tender herbs ; but when green food 

 cannot be procured they have to remain content with barley and 

 straw broken up. 



Camels are taught to kneel to receive their packs. They will 

 travel along patiently thirty or forty miles per day for weeks at a 

 time with loads varying according to their size and strength from 

 500 to 800 lbs. For a shorter journey very much heavier burdens 

 can be put upon them, but this matter of weight is altogether one 

 of breed and the condition of the animals. In the Soudan, Sir 

 Charles Wilson says 700 lbs. was the weight allotted to each camel, 

 but the baggage animals appear to have been poor creatures and 

 ill-treated. 



Camels are subject to attacks of great excitement at certain 

 seasons, especially the male animals, when besides getting obstinate 

 and unmanageable they become absolutely dangerous. The utility 

 or cause of a peculiarity they exhibit at such periods has never 

 been accurately accounted for by scientists. They project from 

 the mouth a peculiar bladder, which is apparently the loose mem- 

 braneous lining of the throat, and this unpleasant exhibition is 

 accompanied by a low bubbling noise made by the passage of the 

 air with which it is inflated. 



The duration of a camel's life is between forty and fifty years. 



Away from their native haunts the camels lose some of their 

 advantageous qualities and exhibit many drawbacks by comparison 

 with our domestic beasts of burden. They are vicious, and to 

 some extent untameable, and the construction of their feet causes 

 them to slip about terribly on any firm soil with a wet clay or 

 muddy surface, and in this way they frequently disjoint their hips. 

 They do not bear cold or wet weather well. Their recuperative 

 powers are not very great, for even on the desert marches, when 

 thoroughly exhausted, they succumb altogether, and are left to 

 become the prey of the jackal and vulture. Nearly all camels 

 may be said to Hterally die in harness, for the bleached bones of 

 thousands of them mark the paths of the caravans across the 

 otherwise trackless deserts of Africa and Arabia. They also emit a 

 powerful and unpleasant odour, which is said to be a subject on 

 which few travellers who have experienced it can talk with patience. 



