THE DROMEDARY
There are almost as many breeds of camels as there are of horses, and the kind used for riding is as different from the load-carrier as the race-horse is from the cart-horse. The burden-bearer has a thick body, heavy feet, coarse hair, and a slow pace. The racing breed is thin of body, fine-haired, and much more elegant in shape. It is as celebrated for its swift speed as is the Arabian horse, and a good animal is able to carry its rider a hundred miles in a day.
While all the single-humped camels are often called dromedaries, it is more correct to speak of the racing camel as the dromedary. An Arab sheik is as proud of a fine animal of this kind as an American or Englishman is of his fine race-horse.
But if any of you should ever be asked to mount a camel it would be wise to decline the honor, unless you are good at holding on, for camel-riding is an art that must be learned. The awkward animal has a swinging and jolting gait that is hard to get used to. During the world's fair at Chicago in 1893 one of the greatest amusements of the Midway was to see people trying to ride the camels which had been brought to the Egyptian section of the fair. It was much better fun for the lookers-on than for the riders. In camel-riding a saddle is not used, as on the horse, but a sort of platform is fastened on the hump.
The camel we have so far spoken of is the one-humped Arabian kind. The two-humped or Bactrian species is larger and stronger but is not nearly so common. It is found in the desert region of the north from the Black Sea to China. Both kinds are found in Central Asia, but the Bactrian goes as far north as Siberia, where the cold is often very severe and it has to live on the leaves and twigs of the willow and birch trees.
Though the camel is fitted by nature for life in the desert, it is much used elsewhere. For ages past it has been the great carrier in Asia, long camel trains, or caravans, taking the place of the modern railroad train. It is also used for pulling carts and for ploughing, in which yokes of four camels may be seen. You could not think of anything more awkward or clumsy-looking than a camel harnessed to a cart.
From Madeira's Hunting in British East Africa
Camel Hauling Water. The Camel is Used Alike as a Carrier and a Drawer of Burdens
If any one asks about the intellect of the camel we can only say that it does not show much sign of having any. It seems to be a stupid creature, with only sense enough to protest against bad treatment. In most cases it is very docile but if ill-treated it can be as obstinate as a mule. Also it bears in mind a wrong done to it and will at times wait a long time to revenge itself. The camel-driver knows this and if he thinks the animal is waiting its chance to attack him he will throw his clothes before it. These the animal tosses and tramps on in a wild rage. After that it appears to forget the wrong done it and the man is safe.
Reproduced by Permission of the Philadelphia Museums
Yaks Picketed near Camp in India
The camel is useful to its owner in other ways than those mentioned. Thus it supplies him with food, the Arabs being fond of the flesh of the young camel, which tastes like veal. Camel's milk is also excellent to drink and can be made to yield butter and cheese. The hair is woven by the Arab into cloths suitable for clothing and for tent covers and the finer hair is used for paint brushes. So living and dead the camel serves his master.