THE CAMEL TRIBE AND THE CHEVROTAINS 267 
to store water; in reality they are huge masses of fat, 
serving as a reserve store of food. The accumulation 
of fat for this purpose is a common feature amongst 
the Mammalia. Most animals which hibernate, or lap up 
and sleep during the winter, store up fat; but, except in 
the camel, it is distributed more or less evenly over the 
body. With hard work or bad feeding the camel’s hump 
dwindles almost to nothing. When on the eve of a long 
journey, the Arab looks anxiously to the state of this hump, 
for on the size of this depends the animal’s condition and 
ability to undertake the march. 
The Arabian camel as a wild animal has long since 
been extinct. Of the hordes of so-called wild camels which 
abound in the desert regions of Central Asia (Gobi Steppe), 
some are probably descendants of domesticated animals 
which have escaped from captivity, but others may be 
aboriginally wild. From the evidence of fossil camels, there 
seems little doubt that this animal originated in North 
America —one branch of the family (the Llamas) migrating 
into South America, and the other (the Camels) crossing 
Bering Sea into the Old World. 
THE TRUE CAMEL 
Before proceeding further, it may be well to refer to 
the confusion which exists in the use of the names Camel 
and Dromedary. The latter name seems popularly to be 
Photo by York Son 
A CAMEL 
Aq half-breed between the Arabian and Bactrian 
species 
applied to the two-humped species, the name Camel being reserved for the one with a single 
hump. This is a mistake. The DROMEDARY is a swift breed of riding-camel of the one- 
humped species, and is so called to distinguish it from its slower brother, the Pack-camel, or 
A STRING OF CAMELS NEAR PORT SAID 
These are the typical desert camels of the East 
