Besides being the only animal that can cross the desert, the camel is different from any other four-legged animal even in the way he walks.
You have seen how a horse walks? When his left foreleg is lifted off the ground, his right hind leg is also lifted off the ground; then in the next step, when his right foreleg is lifted off the ground, his left hind leg is also lifted off the ground. That means that the two legs which move at the same time are those placed at the opposite corners of his body. But when a camel walks, he lifts the two legs on the same side of his body at the same time. And when he takes the next step, he lifts the two legs on the other side of his body.
Now, my dear, I have told you many things about the camel which are different from anything in any other animal. So, before I close this chapter, I want you to remember these things about the camel:
1. His foot is padded in such a way that he can walk or run on sand.
2. He can close his nostrils to keep out the sand in a storm.
3. His thick and bushy eyebrows and thick eyelashes keep the glare of the sun from his eyes.
4. His stomach has many cells like bottles, in which he can store up water.
5. He can store up food in his hump.
6. He walks by moving both legs on the same side of his body at the same time.
In another chapter I shall tell you about an animal that can also do one of these things: he can store up food in his body, though in a different way. That animal is the bear. He sleeps through the whole winter, and has to have a store of food somewhere in his body to last all that time.