20 
THE CAMEL. 
this reservoir of water to meet the 
exigencies of long journeys across 
the deserts, where streams and veg;- 
etation are scarce, the camel is pro- 
vided with a storehouse of solid 
nutriment, on which it can draw for 
supplies long after every digestible 
part has been extracted from the 
stomach: this storehouse consists 
of one or two large collections of 
fat, stored up in ligamentous cells, 
supported by the spines of the dor- 
sal vertebras, forming what is called 
the hump. When the camel is in 
a fertile region, the hump becomes 
plump and expanded; hut after a 
protracted journey in the wilderness 
it becomes shrivelled and reduced, in consequence of the absorp- 
tion of the fat. Thus to the Arab of the burning seas of sand 
the camel is as valuable, and indeed as essential, as the reindeer 
to the Laplander in his region of perpetual snow. The one 
animal, like the other, serves for all the purposes of draught 
and burden. When dead, the flesh of the camel is eaten — 
though coarser than that of the ordinary ruminants. Its hide, 
which approaches that of the pachyderms in thickness and 
strength, is applied to the manufacture of saddles, harness, 
shields, and various other articles. The finer hair is manufac- 
tured into articles of clothing, and the coarser hair is woven 
into a kind of matting for the covering of tents. By day, the 
camel carries its master and his family, with their property, from 
place to place ; while at night the body of the recumbent beast 
of burden serves as a pillow for its owner. 
The camel is the only medium of communication between 
those countries which are separated by extensive deserts. In th.e 
expressive and beautiful metaphor of oriental speech, it is the 
“ Ship of the Desert,” — in truth, it is the only transport by 
which the dreary wilderness of sand can be navigated with safety 
and certainty. 
