Chap. II. 
of the E a s T In d 
the fame Reafon . In one refpe< 5 t this _ Creature is very 
lingular, which is in having no Teeth in its upper Jaw, 
an d yet it feeds without any Inconvenience from hence * 
and, perhaps, the want of Teeth, is, in fome Cafes, rather 
an Advantage to it. 
The Smell of this Animal is fo difagreeable to Horles, 
that they will not endure it ; and, by the Knowledge of 
this, Cyrus gained a complete Victory over Crafus, King 
of Lydia \ for, knowing the other trufted much to his 
Superiority in Cavalry, Cyrus polled a Body of Camels 
ovet-againft them, and the Horfes no fooner perceived 
their Scent, than they fell into Confufion, and ran away a . 
As to the Age of this Creature Authors are much divided. 
Ariftotle afterts, that they do not live much above fifty 
Years ; but Pliny fays, that if they efcape Accidents, they 
often approach, and fometimes reach, an hundred b . Mo- 
dern Writers agree rather with the former than the 
latter. 
There are few Creatures that are in all refpe&s fo va- 
luable j for, befides the Services they render by Carriage, 
their Hair, which they Hied every Year, is extremely va- 
luable ; for, of this Hair, Camblets, and other Manu- 
factures, are wrought ; and the very Urine of the Beaft: 
yields a confiderable Profit, fince of that the true Sal Ar- 
moniac is made. The Lump on the Back is molt of it 
Fat, which, when melted, becomes an Ointment of excel- 
lent Ufe in difcufling hard Swellings, and in curing all 
Sorts of Pains in the Limbs, from whatever Caufe. The 
Flefh is well-tafted, and the Broth much ufed by the Chi- 
ne fe in afthmatic Cafes : The Milk of the Camel is 
thinner, and therefore efteemed more wholfome, than any 
other, efpecially in Confumptions : Of the Dung, dried, a 
kind of Snuff is made, which is Laid to cure Bleeding at 
the Nofe. 
The received Opinion amongll the Antients,' that the 
Camel preferyed Water in its Stomach % has been ridiculed 
by fome of the Moderns as equally foolifii and falfe •, but 
others affert, that, onDiffe&ion, there appear four Ventricles, 
capable of holding a confiderable Quantity of Water, with 
Holes into the Stomach, by ’which, it is fuppofed, this 
Creature forces the Water, contained in them, to mix 
with the dry Food that is in its Stomach, by holding its 
Breath. It is, on the other Side, afferted, that, in Arabia , 
there are a Race of Camels that never drink at all, but are 
fupplied with Moifture from the Grafs, and Tops of green 
Trees, on which they feed ; but, with refpedt to this, I 
do not pretend to decide, defiring only to report fairly fuch 
Fafts as I have met with. 
The Camel is as much the Theme of modern Travel- 
lers, as of the antient Naturalifts, and they agree exceed- 
ingly well in their Defcriptions with the former *, fo that 
we have all the Reafon in the World to believe, that both 
may be depended on. The modern Travellers obferve, 
that there cannot be any thing better fuited, than the Na- 
ture of this Animal, to the Commerce of the Indies. 
They tell us, that from the very time the Camel is brought 
forth, it is accuftomed to Burdens ; that they take care to 
place its Legs in their proper Pofture under it, and then 
lay fuch a Weight uponit, as, keeps it in that State for a cer- 
tain time *, and, by repeating this Method, they beget fuch 
a Habit in the Beaft, as renders it tradable and obedient for 
Life. This appears to be the. more neceffary, becaufe, na- 
turally, the Camel has a great Degree of Obftinacy •, and, 
though it readily kneels to receive its ufualLoad, yet* as 
loon as it feels that Weight upon its Back, it rifes at once, 
ahd will not ftiffer any Augmentation d . 
The Capacity of this Creature* to bear Hunger and Fa- 
tigue, is very extraordinary * and the Moderns affert more 
upon this Head than the Antients. We are particularly 
told,: by a Writer eminent for his Candour, that a Camel, 
in a Fit of Luff, will go forty-two Days without eating ; 
during which time, they arefo furious, and fo mifchievous, 
that there is no going near them, and therefore they take 
care to put them into Places where they can do' no hurt. 
Some affert, that this Creature Is enabled to faft longer 
than any othe 
own Body, wh. 
mach, what ftiou 
weakens him exceed!, 
after the Fit of Luft is 
tenth Part of his ufual Load e . 
Thefe Animals are at all times 
that they are able to fubfift on a very little 
enables them to perform fuch prodigious Journies, as, 
the Conveniency of Commerce they are put upon, all 
over the Eaft * fo that it is viftbly the Wifdohi of Provi- 
dence, that deftined this Creature to be the Native of 
Countries where fuch a Beaft was abfolutely neceffary for 
the Service of the Inhabitants *, and it may be regarded, as 
an additional Proof of this, that the African Camel, which 
fares harder, and has ftill greater and more uncouth Jourpies 
to take, is larger, ftronger, and capable of carrying heavier 
Burdens, than the Camels of Afia. The Moderns have 
likewife difcovered fome medicinal Virtues in the Camel, 
which do not appear to have been known to the Antients : 
As for Inftance •, that the Brain of it, when dried, is in a 
manner a Specific for the Falling Sicknefs •, that its Urine 
is an excellent Prefervative for the Teeth and Gums ♦, and 
that its Dung is capable of refolving white Swellings, and 
is an excellent Cure for green Wounds f . It is no wonder,, 
therefore, that the Arabs account their Camels their 
greateft Wealth •, and, it is the cleared Proof of their 
Firmnefs in their Cuftoms, that they are not, in this refpedt, 
at all changed from what they were in the Days of Ariftotle^ 
who affirms, that fome of them were poiTeffed of 3000 
of thefe Animals s . 
15. The Dromedary is, in the Opinion of all the Na- 
turalifts, a Species of the Camel * and, though it be 
weaker, and lefs capable of carrying Burdens, yet, in other 
refpedts, it is of no lefs ufe. Inftead of one large Bunch 
on its Back, as the Camel- has, the Dromedary has two 
Lumps of Fat, fo difpofed, that the Vacancy between 
them is a kind of natural Saddle •, and, as they are lighter 
made than the Camel, and ferve only to carry a Paffenger, 
fo they go much eafief, and at a much greater Rate * lor 
Whereas the Camel has a fhuffling lineal y Pace, in which: 
it goes at the Rate of ten Leagues a- v day, or thereabouts 5. 
the Dromedary has a regular, brisk, and not very uneafy 
Trot, in which it will, without Difficulty, perform a 
Journey of forty Leagues in a Day. The Feet of this 
Creature are obferved to be as foft as a Sponge, fo that 
they are not hurt either by Stones or Sand, but travel on 
much at the fame Rate, let the Road be what it will * they, 
kneel to receive their Riders, as the Camel does lor his 
Load, and rife as foon as a Man is fixed upon their 
Back h . 
They are likewife capable of faring hard, and will 
endure Thirft for four or five Days, but are not. able to 
bear altogether fo much Fatigue as the Camel. The 
Arabians call them Raguahilf or Ehnahari \ and the 
ftrongeft and beft are bred in the Northern Countries': 
They make ufe of them in the Indies for going Poft, and 
Expreffes frequently perform a Journey ol eight hundred 
Miles upon them in the Space of a W eek. There is one 
thing very lingular in thefe Animals, which is, that they 
go much better, and have greater Spirits in hot Weather, 
than if there* be any Wind flirting i and, it is obferved, 
that the flighteft Breeze makes them fiuggilh and lazy h 
We have in the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of 
Sciences, a very curious Paper in relation to this Creature ; 
it confifts in the Account given by the Perfiah Ambaf- 
fador to Mr. Confiance , who, from being a Servant in an 
Englijh Factory, became firft Minifter to the King of 
Siam ; and who, at the Requeft of the Miffionaries, took 
upon him to inquire of that Ambaffadqr, what he knew 
in relation to the Dromedary, which is hardly known to 
the Siamefe . He told him, that they were brought ori- 
ginally from Eurkeftan , which is the only Part of Afia 
where they are bred in Perfection * that they were very 
much efteemed In Perfidy on account of their carrying fo 
8 P°{)'n> Stratagem, lib . vii. b drift ot. Hift. Anim. lib. V. c. z6. Pliny, lib. viii. c. 1 8. 
Antm. lib. iii. d Voyages He Thensenot, tom. ii. p. 5.16. e Id. tom. iii. f. ^or 
•P- Z 9 S- . 8 Hift. Aitimal, lib. v. h trnCxs. p. 517. 
3 2; $ D 
torn. 
N u M B. 
.. c Arift , Hift. Anim. lib.V. if ts Part . 
( lebat befeription de P Afr.ique Oecidentalle , 
* Bmmgartin' a Travels through Arabia. 
% 
