574 
CHARACTER OF THE CAMEL. 
is supposed that the Camel is, in some way, able to dilate the honeycomb cells, and to force 
them to receive a large quantity of the priceless liquid. 
A large and experienced Camel will receive five or six quarts of water into its stomach 
and is enabled to exist for as many days without needing to drink. Aided by this internal 
supply of water, the Camel can satiate its hunger by browsing on the hard and withered thorns 
that are found scattered thinly through the deserts, and suffers no injury to its palate from 
their iron-like spears, that would direfully wound the mouth of any less sensitive creature. 
The Camel has even been known to eat pieces of dry wood, and to derive apparent satisfaction 
from its strange meal. 
The feet of the Camel are well adapted for walking upon the loose, dry sand, than which 
substance is no more uncertain footing. The toes are very broad, and are furnished with soft, 
wide cushions, that present a considerable surface to the loose soil, and enable the animal to 
maintain a firm hold upon the shifting sands. As the Camel is constantly forced to kneel in 
order to be loaded or relieved of its burden, it is furnished upon the knees and breast with 
thick callous pads, which support its weight without injuring the skin. Thus fitted by nature 
for its strange life, the Camel faces the desert sands with boldness, and traverses the arid 
regions with an ease and quiet celerity that has gained for the creature the title of Ship 
of the Desert. 
The Camel is invariably employed as an animal of carriage, when in its native land, and 
is able to support a load of five or six hundred pounds’ weight without being over-loaded. 
The Arab will not willingly injure his Camel by placing too heavy a burden upon its back, but 
in India, and some other countries where the Camel has been naturalized and domesticated, its 
treatment is barbarous in the extreme. Hundreds of valuable animals are annually sacrificed 
on account of the covetousness of their owners, who know that they will receive payment for 
every Camel that falls upon the journey, and are consequently indifferent to the suffering and 
condition of those animals which they have nominally taken under their care. 
The pace of the Camel is not nearly so rapid as is generally supposed, and even the speed 
of the Heirie, or swift Camel, has been greatly exaggerated. “In crossing the Nubian desert,” 
says Captain Peel, “I paid constant attention to the march of the Camels, hoping it might be 
of some service hereafter in determining our position. The number of strides in a minute with 
the same foot varied very little, only from thirty-seven to thirty-nine, and thirty -eight was 
the average ; but the length of the stride was more uncertain, varying from six feet six inches 
to seven feet six inches. As we were always urging the Camels, who seemed, like ourselves, 
to know the necessity of pushing on across that fearful tract, I took seven feet as the average. 
These figures give a speed of 2.62 geographical miles per hour, or exactly three English 
miles, which may be considered as the highest speed that Camels, lightly loaded, can keep 
up on a journey. In general, it will not be more than two and a half English miles. My 
dromedary was one of the tallest, and the seat of the saddle was six feet six inches above the 
ground.” 
The speed of the Heirie is seldom more than eight or ten miles per hour, but the endurance 
of the animal is so wonderful, that it is able to keep up this pace for twenty hours without 
stopping. To back a Heirie at full speed is a terrible task, as the peculiar jolting trot at which 
the animal proceeds is so rough and irregular that it seems to dislocate every bone, and to 
shake the digestive organs almost out of their places. It is needful for any one who wishes to 
make a long journey on one of these animals to swathe himself tightly in bandages, in order 
to save himself from the ill effects of long continued jolting. 
The gentle disposition and sweet temper of the Camel is quite as imaginary as its speed, 
for the creature is truly an ill-conditioned and morose beast, ever apt to bite, and so combative 
as to engage in terrible conflicts with its own species as soon as it is relieved of its load. 
Taking advantage of this disposition, the native chiefs will often amuse themselves by com- 
bats between fighting Camels, which are trained for the purpose, like the fighting tigers and 
buffaloes of India. 
The true disposition of the Camel is told in a very spirited manner by the author of “Life 
among the Pandies.” 
