1839.] Camel draught to Carriages. 601 



The Gamel men generally have a prejudice against employing Ca- 

 mels in draught. They say that the Camel was never intended to draw, 

 but to carry, and look upon it as little less than a sin to put the animal 

 into harness. They have further a prejudice, that it will kill the 

 Camel : this is altogether fallacious. On a plain, the Camel draws with 

 extraordinary ease, and a single Camel is fully equal to two and a half 

 horses. It is not however so easy to combine Camel labour, as it is that 

 of horses, i. e., it is less easy to make them pull quite steadily together; 

 and four Camels are not equivalent to ten horses ; I should estimate 

 their power rather that of seven or eight horses. They do not draw very 

 well up hill. 



In India, the Rewarree Camels draw with the least training, because 

 they are accustomed, in their own country, to draw the plough ; and I 

 should think the Egyptian Dromedary would draw equally well, for I 

 think I remember to have read in some book of travels, that in Upper 

 Egypt they are occasionally harnessed to the ferry boats, 



The carriage should be built as light as is consistent with the union 

 of strength and comfort, for it is far preferable to have a light carriage 

 drawn by two Camels, than to have a heavy carriage with four Camels. 

 The Camel will draw a buggy well, but the buggy should be so ba- 

 lanced, like the ekkas, that but little weight may rest on the animal ; 

 and it must be borne in mind, that in consequence of the Camel's height, 

 the shafts must necessarily have a considerable inclination upwards. 



The bridle and saddle required for the Camel in draught, are pre- 

 cisely the same as those used for the common Sandees or Hurkaruh 

 Camels of Upper India. On each side of the saddle however, and a little 

 behind the legs of the rider, is an iron ring into which the hooks of the 

 traces are looped. Around the neck of a Camel is a sort of breast-plate 

 of broad tape or rope, which serves to keep the saddle steady in its 

 position. 



The traces are of male bamboo, with a hook at one end to hook into 

 the ring on the saddle, and on the other a loop, like those of a leathern 

 trace, to loop on to the carriage. 



The Camels are harnessed in pairs. There is a pole like that used 

 for horses, but its position is more upright, and which is buckled to the 

 saddle, as it would be to the harness of a horse. 



When four Camels, or three Camels are used, splinter bars are put on 



the top of the pole, and the front Camels are harnessed to them by 



traces in the same manner as the wheel Camels. Each Camel has a 



separate rider. T. J. TAYLOR, 



Calcutta, April 15th, 1839. 



