MILITARY SERVICES. 



29 



purposes, and the animal had no particular effort (objection- 

 able after so long a sea voyage) to make under them." 



Military Services. 



Altliongh traditionally a peaceful animal, lacking those fiery 

 attributes which Job bestows upon the war-horse, yet has the 

 camel occasionally rendered distinguished service in military 

 movements. They have been used for centuries by the Per- 

 sians in their wars against the Turks. Gur officers who visited 

 the Crimea, in 1855, found them highly appreciated by the 

 British, who had previously used them in India for cavalry ser- 

 vice. The operation of the famous dromedary regiment, organ- 

 ized by the first Napoleon in Egypt, was a brilliant success ; 

 and the recent experiments of the same nature in Algeria, are 

 said to have resulted in a manner entirely satisfactory to the 

 ofiicers in charge. Whether they can be advantageously -sub- 

 stituted for, or used in connection with, the horse in the regular 

 military operations of our army, is an open question ; but there 

 is no donbt that, as an armed escort, they will render good ser- 

 vice in protecting our overland trains from Indian depreda- 

 tions. 



"There are few more imposing spectacles," says Marsh, 

 " than a body of armed men, advancing under the quick pace 

 of the trained dromedary ; and this sight, with the ability of the 

 animal to climb ascents impracticable to horses, and thus to 

 transport mountain howitzers, light artillery, stores, and other 

 military materiel into the heart of the mountains, w^ould strike 

 with a salutary terror the Camanches, Lipaus, and other savage 

 tribes upon our borders." And he thus sums up his qualifica- 

 tions for martial rank, which it will be seen are equally valua- 

 ble to him as a beast of burden. 



" Among the advantages of the camel for military purposes," 

 he says, " may be mentioned the economy of his original cost 

 as compared with the horse or mule, when once introduced and 

 fairly domesticated — the simplicity and cheapness of his saddle 

 and other furniture, w^hich every soldier can manufacture for 

 himself; the exemption from the trouble and expense of pro- 

 viding for his sustenance, and from dressing, sheltering, or 

 shoeing him ; his great docility, his general freedom from dis- 

 ease, his longevity, the magnitude of his burden, and the great 



