The Camel Its Uses And Management

at he is essentially a denizen of a flat country, and that Nature never really intended him for a cold and mountainous region, his peculiar structural formation pretty clearly demonstrates. Those of the Arabian species which are found in Afghanistan (and other parts of Central Asia of a similar nature) have, I should imagine, become acclimatised, and inured to the different conditions to which they originally were unaccustomed ; after many centuries of living in cold, hilly countries, Nature has come to the rescue and clothed them with thick, long coats of hair. But for all this they have never become mountain climbers in the strict sense of the word, and never will, for reasons already given, although, of course, through sheer force of habit they are far more at home than the camel from a plain country would be. In a few words, the camel was never meant for climbing, and it is useless to compare him with the mule, donkey, or hill pony, all three of which are as handy and asactive in a hilly district as the wild goat of the mountain. In the sandy wastes of his own desert, for which General Nature clearly intended and created him, the camel undoubtedly is the most invaluable of all animals for riding and carrying loads, and here he will defy competition. The fact, therefore, of his not having spread so universally as the horse, the ox, and the ass is thus accounted for. Outside his own domain, although his value is diminished, he is, nevertheless, for military p...