THE GIRAFFE-CAMEL—BUTFALO 
196 
and so we have direct proof that they are really a natural gift, provided 
in order that the animal may be suited to the work which it has to 
perform. 
Unless the camel could kneel on these pads, it would be useless 
to man, for it is so tall that it could neither be mounted nor loaded 
when standing upright, and so would not be of service either for 
riding or for carrying. As it is, however, it is an animal whose value 
can scarcely be held too highly, and well deserves the poetical name 
which the Arabs have given to it, the “Ship of the Desert.” 
CALLING THE CAMELS 
The laborious and abstemious camel, like the palm, is all-essen¬ 
tial to the desert, as the desert is all-essential to it. Without its 
invaluable aid, the wastes of the Sahara, or of Libya and Nubia, 
would be impassable. It is properly styled the “treasure of the East;” 
and to the wandering tribes it is, in truth, their wealth, their life, their 
all. It supplies them with every article of primary necessity—with 
food, clothing, habitation, fuel, and the means of transport. The flesh 
