576 
VEETEBRATA. 
been the great instrument by whicli the vast interior trade of the rich and fertile countries of 
the middle zone of Asia has been conducted. Some of the breeds are acclimated in the cold or 
temperate regions west of the Taurus and Himalayas, and even in the countries of the Caspian 
and amid the steppes of the Crimea, supporting the rigors of these harsh climates as well as any 
other animals. 
THE DROMEDARY, OE ARABIAN CAMEL. 
The Dromedary, or, as it is often called, the Arabian Camel, is distinguished by a single 
hump, a lighter form, and a more rapid movement than the other species. There are three vari- 
eties, the Brown or Caucasian Dromedary, which is stouter and more robust than the others; 
the Egyptian Dromedary, which is of large size, and covered with short gray hair, and the 
White Dromedary, which is in part whitish-gray, the head, neck, hump, and fore-limbs being 
covered with long hair. It is true that the Bactrian and Arabian Camel are both bred and used 
in some localities, but the varieties of the latter are almost exclusively employed in Africa, Turkey, 
Asia Minor, and Arabia ; many also are used by the marauding Tartars. They are particularly 
suited to arid and sandy countries, and are wholly used in crossing the wastes of Sahara, more ap- 
palling than the waves of the sea, where, indeed, whole caravans have been buried in the drifting 
billows of sand, and where in some places the surface of the earth is whitened with the bones of men 
and camels Avhich have perished from thirst. This species is the one employedt)y the Hebrews in the 
patriarchal ages, and it appears that this nation introduced it into Egypt. In the conflict with 
Mithridates, the Romans under Lucullus first met soldiers mounted on camels. The Carthagi- 
nians did not use these animals, and they appear to have arrived in Northern Aftica after the 
conquests of Belisarius in that quarter. At the present day multitudes of these animals are seen 
not only in the caravans crossing the deserts, but in the cities of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, Cairo, 
Alexandria, and indeed throughout Africa, Arabia, and Syria. 
