702 CAMELS WTTH SOUTH AFGHAN EXPEDITION, 1878-9. 
under the toes, united by a common sole, and forming, as 
above mentioned, an extended pad suitable, apparently, for 
the road on which he is most at home, viz. the sandy plain; 
the sole, however, is very thick, and the whole cushion so 
accommodating that, in spite of the presumed adaptability to 
sand, I must admit it is very tolerant of even rough roads, 
and that lameness from injured feet on such irregular, rocky 
ground as in the Bolan Pass and other places was of un¬ 
frequent occurrence. The hump is presumed to be a pro¬ 
vision of nature for endurance of long abstinence; a quantity 
of fatty matter enters into its composition, and the Arab is said 
to be very careful in looking to its condition before commencing 
a long journey. From my own observation I cannot recommend 
too great a reliance upon this store of nutriment, as I fear that 
the camel is given credit for a greater tolerance of abstinence 
than he really possesses, for, if not absolutely starved, it will 
not be difficult to show that there are very fatal secondary 
results from want of nutrition; and here it may be appro¬ 
priately mentioned that the store of water the animal is sup¬ 
posed to be capable of carrying is much exaggerated. My 
experienced Serwan (a somewhat aged man, who had been 
with camels all his life) told me that, in hot weather, camels 
required watering every day ; in cold they began to fail when 
without it for three days, and if denied for five days they 
would die; but this latter subject will receive attention in 
another part of my paper. The callosities on the stifles, 
elbows, and beneath the breast are very characteristic, and 
the wisdom of such provision is evident when they are 
crouching for the imposition of their load; the one beneath 
the breast is called 1 ‘ Pahafay,” and a severe bruise some¬ 
times occurs to its substructure, resulting in sinuous, un¬ 
healthy wounds difficult to cure, causing much inconvenience 
to the animal and consequent loss of condition; but this was 
not a frequent cause of inability amongst the transport 
camels of the South Afghan expedition. The long eyelashes 
may be observed as evident sentinels to give notice of the 
approach of the numerous offending agents so prevalent in 
hot climates, and the power of closing the nostrils at will is 
a provision against the intrusion of irritating substances into 
the delicately lined respiratory passages. “ The mouth seems 
formed to save for the animal every drop of the fluid excre¬ 
tions of the nose; a channel leads from each nostril to the 
mid-fissure dividing the upper lip, which is continued down 
into the mouth ” (Owen). All observers must be struck by 
the protrusion at times of a peculiar membranous kind of 
bag from the mouth of camels, accompanied by a gurgling 
