THE ARABIAN AND BACTRIAN CAMELS. 317 have each two teats, and seldom produce more than one young-one at a birth. The hair of these animals is of a soft and silky texture: and their flesh constitutes a palatable food. Like all the other genera of their order, they are furnished with four stomachs, in consequence of which they not only live solely on vegetable food, but ruminate or chew the cud. They swallow their food unmasticated. This is received into the first stomach, where it remains some time to macerate; and afterwards, when the animal is at rest, by a peculiar action of the muscles, it is returned to the mouth in small quantities, chewed more fully, and then swallowed a second time for digestion. The height of this animal, at the shoulder, is from five to seven feet. The hunch is situated on the middle of the back. The hair is soft, wooly, and very unequal; it is longer on the nape, under the throat, and on the hunch, than on any other parts of the body. Its color is usually somewhat of a reddish gray. THE BACTRIAN, OR TWO-HUNCHED CAMEL. The Bactrian Camel is distinguishable at first sight, from the last named species, by the two lumps on the upper part of its body; one of these is situated on the shoulders, and the other at a little distance behind. It is a somewhat larger animal than the Arabian Camel, and its legs are, in proportion, shorter. The Arabian Camel is that, with a single hunch on its back, which we so frequently see exhibited in the streets of this country. In many parts of the east it is domesticated; and in carrying heavy burdens over the sandy deserts, it supplies a place which the Horse would not be able to fill. The tough and spongy feet of these animals are pecu liarly adapted to hot climates, for in the most fatiguing journeys they are never found to crack. The sand seems indeed their clement; for no sooner do they quit it, and touch the mud, than they can scarcely keep upon their feet, and their constant stumbling in such situations is exceedingly dangerous to the rider. Their great powers of abstaining from water enable them to pass unwatered tracks of country for seven, eight, or, as Leo Africanus says, for even fifteen days, without requiring any li quid. They can scent water at half a league's distance, and, after a long abstinence, will hasten towards it long before their drivers perceive where it lies. Their pa tience under hunger is such, that they will travel many days fed only with a few dates, some small balls of barley-meal, or on the miserable thorny plants they meet with in the deserts. M. Denon informs us, that during his travels in Egypt, the Camels of his caravan had nothing in the day but a single feed of beans, which they chewed for the remainder of the time, either on the journey, or lying down upon the scorching sand, and this without their exhibiting the slightest indication of discontent. ARAB AND CAMEL A large Camel will bear a load of a thousand or twelve hundred pounds, and, with this, it will traverse the deserts. When about to be loaded, these animals, at the command of their conductor, bend their knees. If any disobey, they are immediately struck with a stick, or their necks are pulled down; and then, as if constrained, and uttering their groan of complaint, they bend themselves, put their bellies on the earth, and remain in this posture till they are loaded and desired to rise. This is the origin of those large callosities on the parts of their bellies, limbs, and knees, which rest on the ground. If overburdened, the Camels give repeated blows with their heads, to the person who oppresses them, and sometimes utter the most lamentable cries. They have a great share of intelligence, and the Arabs assert that they are so sensible of ill-treatment, that, when this is carried too far, the inflictor will not find it easy to escape their vengeance; and that they will retain the remembrance of an injury till an opportunity offers for gratifying their revenge. Eager, however, to express their THE ARABIAN AND BACTRIAN CAMEL. 319 resentment, they no longer retain any rancour when once they are satisfied; and it is even sufficient for them to believe they have satisfied their vengeance. Ac cordingly, when an the animal is to pass, and disposes them in such a manner, that they appear to cover a man sleeping under them. The animal recognises the clothes, seizes them in his teeth, shakes them with violence, and tramples on them in a rage. When his anger is appeased, he leaves them, and then the owner of the garments may make his appearance, and, without fear, may load and guide him as he pleases. "I have sometimes seen these animals, (says M. Sonnini,) weary of the impatience of their riders, stop short, turn round their long necks to bite them, and utter cries of rage. these circumstances the man must refrain from striking his beast, as that would but increase his fury. Nothing can be done but to have patience, and endeavor to appease the animal by patting him with the hand, and, after a little while, he will resume his way and his place of himself." Like the Elephant, Camels have their periodical fits of rage, and during these they sometimes have been known to take up a man in their teeth throw him on the ground, and trample him under their feet. LOADED C. MLLS. In In eastern countries there is no mode of conveyance so cheap and expeditious as that by Camels. The merchants and other passengers unite in a caravan, to prevent the insults and robberies of the Arabs. These caravans are often very numerous, and are always composed of more Camels than men. In these commercial travels the march is not hastened: as the route is frequently seven or eight hundred leagues, the motions and journeys are regulated accordingly. The Camels only walk, and they travel thus from ten to twelve leagues a day. Every night they are unloaded, and allowed to pasture at freedom. When in a rich country, or fertile meadow, they eat, in less than an hour, as much as serves them to ruminate the whole night, and to nourish them during the next day. But they seldom find such pastures, neither is this delicate food necessary for them. They seem to prefer wormwood, thistles, nettles, broom, cassia, and other prickly vegetables, to the softest herbage. As long as they find plants to browse, they easily dispense with water. This faculty of abstaining from the use of water, is an effect of their structure. Till very lately the Camels have been supposed to possess, independently of the four stomachs common to ruminating animals, a fifth bag, which served them as a reservoir for holding water. From a preparation, however, in the collection of Mr. John Hunter, it appears that this fifth bag never existed but in idea. The second stomach is of very peculiar construction, being formed of numerous cells several inches deep, having their mouths uppermost, and the orifices apparently capable of muscular contraction. When the animal drinks, it probably has a power of directing the water into these cells, instead of letting it pass into the first stomach, and when these are filled, the rest of the water will go into that stomach. In this manner a quantity of water may be kept separate from the food, and may serve occasionally to moisten it in its passage to the true stomach, for several days. When travellers find themselves much in want of water, it is not uncommon thing to kill a Camel for what he contains, which is always sweet and wholesome. "Of all animals (says M. de Buffon) that man has subjugated, the Camels are the most abject slaves. With incredible patience and submission, they traverse the burning sands of Africa and Arabia, THE ARABIAN AND BACTRIAN CAMELS. 321 carrying burdens of amazing weight. The Arabians consider the Camel as a gift sent from Heaven; a sacred animal, without whose assistance they could neither subsist, traffic, nor travel. The milk of the Camel is their common food. They also eat its flesh; and of its hair they make garments. In possession of their Camels, they want nothing, and have nothing to fear. In one day they can perform a journey of fifty leagues into the desert, which cuts off every approach from their enemies. All the armies in the world would perish in pursuit of a troop of Arabs. By the assistance of his Camel, an Arab surmounts all the difficulties of a country which is neither covered with verdure, nor supplied with water. Notwithstanding the vigilance of his neighbors, and the superiority of their strength, he eludes their pursuit, and carries off with impunity all that he ravages from them. When about to undertake a predatory expedition, an Arab makes his Camels carry both his and their own provisions. When he reaches the confines of the desert, he robs the first passengers who come in his way, pillages the solitary houses, loads his Camels with the booty, and, if pursued, he accelerates his retreat. On these occasions he displays his own talents as well as those of the animals. He mounts one of the fleetest of them, con MILITARY CAMEL. ducts the troop, and obliges them to travel day and night, almost without either stopping, eating, or drinking; and, in this manner, he often performs a journey of three hundred leagues in eight days." With a view to his predatory expeditions, the Arab instructs, rears, and exercises his Camels. A few days after their birth he folds their limbs under their belly, forces them to remain on the ground, and in this situation loads them with a weight, which is never removed but for the purpose of being replaced by a greater. Instead of allowing them to feed at pleasure, and drink when they are thirsty, he begins with regulating their meals, and makes them gradually travel long journeys, diminishing at the same time the quantity of their aliment. When they acquire some strength they are trained to the course, and their emulation is excited by the example of Horses, which, in time, renders them not only fleet, but more robust than they would otherwise be. The saddle used by the Arabs is hollowed in the middle, and has, at each bow, a piece of wood placed upright, or sometimes horizontally, by which the rider keeps himself on his seat. This, with a iong pocket, to hold provisions for himself and his beast, a skin of water for the rider, (the animal being otherwise well supplied,) and a |