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journeys. Six or seven of these caravans arrive at Mecca every year, although the numbers seem gradually decreasing; whether from the declining power of the Turkish empire, or from a diminution in the religious fervour of Mahommedans, is not easy to say. On this famous journey multitudes of camels perish; for the privations of the route subdue even the enduring strength of this patient animal. Some travellers declare that, at certain points on the road, the ground is covered with the bones of these victims to Mahommedan superstition. When a camel once falls under his load, he seldom rises again; for the perseverance of the animal is such, that it presses on whilst the least strength remains. Hence there is not sufficient power left in the fallen beast to stand up; upon which the owners kill the prostrate creature. In the very act of slaughtering the camel, the Mahommedans do not forget that the creature has performed the sacred journey, and turn its head towards Mecca whilst cutting its throat.

The sacred caravans, however imposing from their number, are not the most interesting in the eyes of the traveller or the merchant; the trading caravans are of course the principal means by which civilisation and commerce are extended through the East by the camels. Three hundred years before the beginning of our era, the Arabian traders employed this animal to transport the valuable merchandise of the East from India to Africa, and it is probable that it was so used for ages before in Asia, if not in Africa. An allusion in the book of Genesis might lead some to suppose that the camel was well known in Egypt at the period of Abraham, to whom Pharaoh is said to have given some camels. This proves that the animal was known in the land of the Nile 1900 years before Christ; but it would be unsafe to infer that these beasts were then common in Egypt, or that they were usually employed for commercial purposes. Another passage, however, in the same sacred book, does undoubtedly favour the views of those who contend that even in those remote ages this animal was commonly used by the merchants trading to and from Egypt. The traders to whom Joseph was sold are said to have had camels with them, and upon these, it is stated, the spices and other merchandise were placed. Now this was not long after the time of Abraham; and such a fact, taken in connexion with the gift of these animals to the patriarch, does certainly suggest the notion that the camel was used for the same purposes then as now. only fact which opposes this conclusion is, the evidence offered by the ancient monuments of Egypt; on these the figures of the Egyptian animals are carved, but no representation of the camel appears amongst these old works. This does certainly appear strange, if the quadruped was in Egypt, for there was no reason for omitting the outline of the camel from those monuments. On the other hand, Egypt must have been completely isolated from the distant regions beyond the deserts, unless these useful crea

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tures were employed by her merchants, or at least by those who imported the produce of other countries into that land. The latter supposition was probably the fact; and this may explain the absence of the camel from the monumental inscriptions. The Egyptians may be supposed more likely to omit a foreign than a native animal from those remarkable delineations.

But whatever opinion may be formed respecting the employment of the camel for commercial purposes in ancient Egypt, there can be no hesitation in admitting the great influence of this mode of transit in the trade of the East from very early times. All, or nearly all, which Europeans accomplish by canals and well-constructed roads, the Arabian and the Syrian merchant effect by this peculiar species of animal power. Travellers declare that the conveyance of goods in this manner is nearly as cheap as water carriage with us; for, according to some statements, the charge for carrying a hundred weight of goods a distance of 100 miles is about 2s. 10d., a sum less than many of our railway companies would demand for the like service. Of course we put out of view, in this calculation, the difference in the time occupied in these different modes of transport; upon that point no comparison can be maintained. But the reader will easily see how such animal transit must facilitate commercial relations, and thus promote civilisation, in those regions which admit of no intercourse except by means of the camel.

The reader may here inquire, whether the humps are of any especial use to the owner in fastening the heavy load more securely on the animal's back? They may be of some little service in this respect, affording a kind of fulcrum round which the load can be balanced; but the principal object of these protuberances is very distinct from that just mentioned. Each hump may, in fact, be considered a kind of storehouse of nourishment. "How can this be!" the reader may exclaim; "the hump is never eaten, surely?" Not exactly, but something next to that happens when the camel endures long abstinence from food, for then the fat of the hump is absorbed into the system, which is thus supplied with the means of enduring severe fasts. Such a conversion of fat is common enough in all animals when stinted in their diet; for what is the leanness, produced by want of food, but a similar case? The singularity of the matter in the camel is, that a particular deposit of such nutrition should be actually placed on the back, ready for use when emergency arises. Thus, with a supply of water stored up within, and of nourishing substance borne on the back, this animal has little to fear from the common perils of the deserts.

Another visible peculiarity of the camel must have attracted the attention of all careful observers. These are the hard-looking patches on the skin, seven in number, which are placed on the breast and the legs, and may seem as if produced by the constant pressure of those parts against the ground when the camel is rest

ing. As the weight of the body rests upon seven projecting parts, it appears reasonable to suppose that friction is the sole cause of these marks; and to this conclusion some writers of eminence have come, or, to speak more accurately, have slipped into the opinion, for there is no good reason for such an assertion. These callosities are as much a part of the animal's nature as the hump or the water-preserving stomach. Those who have seen the young camel assert, that all the marks are found on the creature before they can have been produced by friction. We may not suppose that such callosities are of much use to the animal; but those who are conversant with the habits of the camel can easily see the great advantages obtained from such projecting parts of the hide. When the quadruped kneels to receive the load, the whole weight of the body and the pressure of the cargo press upon the parts in contact with the ground, and this would probably break the skin in those parts, and thus disable the animal. To prevent results which would produce serious mischief in a hot climate, the camel has been provided with seven callosities, upon which the body rests.

The patience of this useful animal is proverbial in the East; so that the more fierce tribes stigmatise the industrious and hard working races of the towns as "camels." No oriental merchant can submit to the severe and plundering systems of taxation so often adopted by the pasha or cadi with more humility than the camel receives the heavy load from its owner. But as the Eastern peasant will sometimes revolt and proceed to the cruelest excesses, so there are seasons when the camel becomes infuriated and bites with ferocity its fellows or its rider. At this time, which usually occurs in February and March, the rude and sporting orientals pit these animals against each other in fight. And these battles are much more desperate than would be imagined by those who have seen the camel in its usual moods only. Indeed, the angry beasts are not allowed to attack each other without being first muzzled; for so powerful is their bite, that the whole part seized is torn away. It is not, therefore, without good reason that, in the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park, all venturesome youths and curious damsels are warned against too much familiarity with the animal by the significant notice, "The Dromedary bites." Here our remarks upon the camel might end, but there is an animal so closely connected with it in habits and structure, though not in form; that a short notice of it must not be omitted.

This species is called the Llama, which may be styled the mountain camel, as it inhabits the regions of the Andes, where it delights in the alpine peak and the wild solitudes of those farstretching mountains. When the Spaniards pushed into the highlands of Chili, in the sixteenth century, they found this

animal employed as a beast of burden by the natives. In their first published account of the country, the llama is called a sheep; but its resemblance to the camel did not escape the observation of the writers, though their ignorance of its structure led them to class it with very different animals. The name llama is derived from the language of the Indians, and was not the common appellation of the animal in Europe. One writer of the eighteenth century has well named them "little camels," and the description is most appropriate, for, with the exception of the hump, their appearance is a miniature representation of the camel. We thus have three decided differences in the genus camelus, the species with two humps, that with one, and lastly, that without any such protuberance.

The region in which the llama dwells requires a different organisation of the foot from that possessed by the proper camels, which live and move upon sandy plains. The llama having to climb steep precipices, has its food adapted to such work. We therefore miss the large elastic sole of the camel, so fitted for a smooth surface, and find in its place a divided foot, having a strong nail to each toe, by which the animal maintains a firm hold of the ground whilst ascending the steeps. The stomach has, like that of the camel, the power of retaining water, or of secreting it from the food; and this enables it to live on those lofty summits which are far above the region of the lakes. Those individuals which are kept in our zoological collections shew little or no desire to drink as long as the keeper supplies them with green food. Although the llama has nothing which can be called a hump, anatomists assert that a deep layer of fat is found under the skin, which is absorbed into the animal's system during a scarcity of food. In its native hills the llama will sometimes transport a weight of one hundred pounds, and is therefore a serviceable carrier between the mountain districts. They are also made substitutes for ponies, being ridden by the mountaineers in their short journeys; and, indeed, one of these animals will carry a man for twelve or fifteen miles without trouble.

These animals are, however, chiefly known amongst us for the fineness of the wool, especially that procured from one variety called the Alpaca. To obtain this wool, the llamas are constantly hunted in the mountains; and nearly 80,000 of another kind, the Bigonia, are said to be slaughtered every year for this object only.

Having now surveyed the camel in all its regions, from the two-humped species of Asia to the mountain variety of the Andes, we must close this chapter without further remarks on those peculiar beasts of burden. The reader will, we trust, henceforth look upon the various species of this extended family with feelings proportioned to their importance as the servants of man, and the appointed inhabitants of sterile lands.

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CHAPTER VIII.

The Or Species.

THE OX.

WHEN we turn from contemplating the stately elephant or the curiously formed camel to behold so common an animal as the ox, many will feel as if descending to a low level. The tiger and the lion are terrible, the dog presents a series of pleasing associations, and the sable leads us into wild and stormy regions of wintry grandeur; but what interesting matters can be connected with bullocks? Drovers may, indeed, feel some pleasure in such prosaic matters, and even farmers are probably not above vulgar considerations of pounds, shillings, and pence. But where is the beautiful or the exciting in these low themes? If such romantic readers should thus be inclined to treat with neglect the animal now introduced to their attention, let them consider that the tide of fashion has set very strongly in favour of the ox of late years, that rich societies, and large counties, with dukes, marquises, and the whole line of the nobility as patrons, have combined to do honour to the ox. See Baker-Street Bazaar, with its annual exhibitions, and the silver jugs, medals, and epergnes bestowed upon the friends of fat beasts. Does not all this prove to the too romantic reader that this animal is really deserving of his esteem and consideration? If Apis was worshipped in Egypt, his relatives are petted in England; and we must admit that the bovine race has not fared badly upon the earth.

In truth, all must admit that the ox is rather an important animal in this country, from the vast amount of animal food used by the natives of these islands. It is also desirable to know something of a quadruped which many of our readers may see every day in their fields and lanes. It would expose us to some little rebuke from a thoughtful man, were we to shew ourselves well acquainted with the habits of the lion, and be ignorant of the simple facts in the history of the ox.

This animal is ranked in the large class Mammalia, and in the

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