Nature has fitted the camel most admirably for its desert home. In addition to its true stomach, with its peculiar cell-like lining, it has a second stomach, or honeycombed paunch. These are both capable of holding a large supply of water.
The hump of the camel is another wise provision to enable the animal to endure the hardships of its long journeys, often on a very short supply of food. A few beans, dates, or carob pods are all the camel receives after a long day's march, when there is no herbage on which it can browse.
Shrubby plants, such as the camel's thorn, of which the animal is very fond, are all that the sterile sands of the desert can produce for its needs.
The drivers and owners of the camels look very carefully to the condition of the hump of each animal before starting out on a march across the desert.
The hump is really a storehouse for fat. When plump and well rounded, it indicates that the animal is in perfect health. If, after a long march, this hump becomes wasted, whether because the animal has become exhausted, or because he has had insufficient food, it is often necessary to prescribe complete rest. Even with an abundance of food, and no work to do, it may take three or four months before the camel is restored to perfect health and full powers of endurance, as indicated by its firm, plump hump.
The foot of the camel is formed to keep it from sinking in the sand. It is furnished with an extended pad, or cushion. This pad is protected from the heat of the burning sands by means of a thick sole.
The skin on the chest and kneejoints is thickened into what are called callosities. It is upon these that the camel rests when it lies down, or when it kneels to receive a load.
The camel has been called the ship of the desert. It can carry twice the load of a mule. It travels slowly, yet it moves at a steady, uniform pace. It can thus travel for hundreds and hundreds of miles at the rate of two miles and a half an hour.
The motion of the camel is most peculiar. It is a swaying from side to side, not at all agreeable to one unaccustomed to riding upon its back.
This motion is caused by the camel moving both feet on a side at once. In this way, first one side of its body is thrown forward, then the other.