THE LIVING WORLD. 
572 
tants of regions where the habitable portions are separated by great seas of 
sand—a waste more barren than the pathless ocean. 
The camel of the steppes is the Two-humped Camel, or the Bactnan 
Camel (Camelus bactrianus). The bactrian camel is generally about seven feet 
in height; his hair is of a chestnut color, and is short on the body, long upon 
the neck and fore legs, and woolly on the upper part of the neck, upon the 
head, and upon the humps. Pause to think of the different adaptation of wool, 
of short hair, and of long locks, and you will see that the camel is most 
suitably clothed to withstand the most violent changes of temperature. The 
gait of the camel is not that of an ambling palfrey, but when one has learned 
how to ride the animal, he finds the motion no more troublesome than is the 
deck of a ship at 
sea to an old tar. 
As the sailor finds 
it awkward to walk 
upon land, and well- 
nigh impossible to 
ride on horseback, 
so those whose ex¬ 
perience has been 
confined to the camel 
would find them¬ 
selves like a fish 
out of water, if they 
essayed other beasts 
of burden; and as 
the sailor content¬ 
edly walks the deck, 
in spite of the heav- 
ings of the sea, so 
does the camel-driver 
find himself in 
entire harmony with 
the movements of 
his beast of burden. 
The camel, although 
much-enduring, is 
not patient under 
Ill-treatment—to hardship he seems to be indifferent. Doubtless we all remember 
the story of the elephant that revenged himself upon the tailor who pricked him 
with a needle. Similar stories are told of the camel. For example, it is well- 
authenticated that a dragoman, or camel-driver, having abused his camel, found 
it growing more and more intractable, until it suddenly availed itself of an 
opportunity, and spit into the driver’s face the whole of its last meal, reduced 
to pulp and mixed with water and saliva. The dragoman accepted his punish¬ 
ment and amity at once prevailed between himseli and camel. 
The One-humped Camel, or Dromedary (Camelus arabicus ), shares with 
the bactrian camel the burdens of life in the desert. Such dromedaries as are not 
condemned to the life of a mere beast of burden, are most carefully trained for 
THE HIPPOPOTAMUS AND 
