194 WILD ANIMALS. 



never so little mingled with, the dulce as in the instance of the 

 camel. He is a horribly necessary animal, ungainly in his gait, 

 disagreeable in his disposition, misanthropical and dyspeptic and 

 teetotal in his habits, sharp and unrelenting in his bites, of 

 unaccountable phantasies in his likings and dislikings, unreason- 

 ably susceptible of pressure and oppression — a sort of inborn 

 animal democrat, of a querulous and morose turn of mind — and 

 possessed of the power, which he delights to use, of making the 

 most horrible noises with his throat, his jaws, his tongue, and his 

 stomach. With loud protestations they submit to monstrous 

 cruelties from their keepers, and bite innocent, well-meaning 

 people who are like to take an interest in them. They will allow 

 without anything more than a grunt, their leader to tear open 

 their nostrils with a jerk of the String which is passed through 

 the cartilage'; ten to one they will spit at you spitefully if you 

 approach to offer them a piece of bread. They will march for 

 days, the nose of one fastened to the tail of another in endless 

 procession, and never seek to escape from bondage ; and yet the 

 same creatures will gnash their tushes awfully at an unhappy 

 European who ventures to rub their rugged sides. However, 

 they form an institution of India— -possibly a part of the tradi- 

 tional policy — and they must be respected accordingly." 



Mark Twain after his experience of the camel in the Holy 

 Land, spoke of him in anything but a complimentary manner; 

 he says, describing the journey from Tabor to Nazareth: — 

 " In this part of the country his load is oftenest in the shape of 

 colossal sacks — one on each side. He and his cargo take up as 

 much room as a carriage. Think of meeting this style of 

 obstruction in a narrow trail ! The camel would not turn out for a 

 kingw He stalks serenely along, bringing his cushioned stilts 

 forward with the long, regular swing of a pendulum, and what- 

 ever is in the way must get out of the way peaceably or be wiped 

 out forcibly by the bulky sacks. I cannot think of anything now 

 more certain to make one shudder than to have a soft-footed 

 camel sneak up behind him and touch him on the ear with its 

 cold, flabby underlip. A camel did this for one of the boys, who 

 was drooping over his saddle in a brown study. He glanced up 



