SECTION III. The Camel. Or all animals, the camel perhaps is most exactly adapted both to those peculiar regions of the earth in which it is principally, if not exclusively, found; and to those purposes for which it is usually employed by man: to whose wants indeed it is so completely accommodated, and apparently so incapable of existing without his superintendence, that while on the one hand we find the camel described in the earliest records of history, and in every subsequent period, as in a state of subjugation to man, and employed for precisely the same purposes as at the present day; on the other hand, it does not appear that the species has ever existed in a wild or independent state. With scarcely any natural means of defence, and nearly useless in the scheme of creation, (as far as we can judge) unless as the slave of man, it forms a remarkable parallel to the sheep, the ox, and other of the ruminating species; which are also rarely, if ever, found, but under the protection of man, and to that protection alone are indebted, indeed, for their existence as a distinct species. Let us compare then the form, and structure, and moral qualities of the camel, with the local character of the regions in which it is principally found; and with the nature of the services exacted of it by man. The sandy deserts of Arabia are the classical country of the camel; but it is also extensively employed in various other parts of Asia, and in the north of Africa: and the constant communication that exists between the tribes which border on the intervening sea of sand, could only be maintained by an animal possessing such qualities as characterize the camel-" the ship of the desert," as it has emphatically been called. Laden with the various kinds of merchandise which are the objects of commerce in that region of the world, and of which a part often passes from the most easterly countries of Asia to the extreme limits of western Europe, and from thence even across the Atlantic to America, this extraordinary animal pursues its steady course over burning sands during many successive weeks. And not only is it satisfied with the scanty herbage which it gathers by the way; but often passes many days without meeting with a single spring of water in which to slake its thirst. In explanation of its fitness as a beast of burden, for such desert tracts of sand, its feet and its stomach are the points in its structure which are principally calculated to arrest our attention: and its feet are not less remarkably accommodated to the road over which it travels, than is the structure of its stomach to the drought of the region through which that road passes. The foot of the camel, in fact, is so formed that the animal would be incapable of travelling, with any ease or steadiness, over either a rough or a stony surface; and equally incapable is it of travelling for any long continuance over moist ground, in consequence of the inflammation produced in its limbs from the effect of moisture. It is observed, by Cuvier, that these circumstances in its physical history, and not the incapability of bearing a colder temperature, account for the fact, that, while the sheep, the ox, the dog, the horse, and some other species, have accompanied the migrations of man, from his aboriginal seat in central Asia to every habitable part of the globe, the camel still adheres to the desert. And now observe how its interior structure meets the difficulty of a region, where water is rarely found. As in the case of all other animals which ruminate or chew the cud, the stomach of the camel consists of several compartments; of which one is divided into numerous distinct cells, capable of collectively containing such a quantity of water, as is sufficient for the ordinary consumption of the animal during many days. And, as opportunities occur, the camel instinctively replenishes this reservoir; and is thus enabled to sustain a degree of external drought, which would be destructive to all other animals but such as have a similar structure: nor is any other animal of the old world known to possess this peculiar structure. But if we pass to the inhabited regions of the Andes in the new world, we there meet with several species of animals, as the lama, the vigogna, and the alpaca, which, though much smaller than the camel, correspond generally in their anatomy with that animal, and particularly with reference to the structure of the stomach: they resemble also the camel in docility; and, to complete the parallel, they were employed by the aboriginal inhabitants in the new world for the same purposes as the camel in the old. Of the two species of camel, the Bactrian and Arabian, the latter is that with the history of which we are best acquainted; and though there is reason to believe, that, whatever is said of the qualities of the one might with truth be affirmed of the other also, on the present occasion whatever is said is referable to the Arabian species.* The camel, then, not only consumes less food than the horse, but can sustain more fatigue. A large camel is capable of carrying from seven to twelve hundred weight, and travelling with that weight on its back, at the rate *The Bactrian species, which has two bosses on its back, is more peculiar to Tartary and northern Asia. The Arabian, which has only one boss, is not confined to the country from which it is named, but is the same species with that which prevails in northern Africa. As in the case of all domesticated animals the varieties of these two species are numerous: and it is a variety of the Arabian species, of a small height, to which the ancients gave the name of dromedary, from its employment as a courier: but in the magnificent work of St. Hilaire and Cuvier, (Hist. Nat. des Mammifères,) the term dromedary is adopted, in a specific sense, for all the varieties of the Arabian camel. of above ten leagues in each day. The small courier camel, carrying no weight, will travel thirty leagues in each day, provided the ground be dry and level. Individuals of each variety will subsist for eight or ten successive days on dry thorny plants; but after this period require more nutritious food, which is usually supplied in the form of dates and various artificial preparations: though, if not so supplied, the camel will patiently continue its course, till nearly the whole of the fat, of which the boss on its back consists, is absorbed; whereby that protuberance becomes, as it were, obliterated. The camel is equally patient of thirst as of hunger: and this happens, no doubt, in consequence of the supply of fluid which it is capable of obtaining from the peculiar reservoir contained in its stomach. It possesses moreover a power and delicacy in the sense of smell, (to that sense at least such a power is most naturally referrible,) by which, after having thirsted for seven or eight days, it perceives the existence of water at a very considerable distance: and it manifests this power by running directly to the point where the water exists. It is obvious that this faculty is exerted as much to the benefit of their drivers, and the whole suite of the caravan, as of the camels themselves. Such are some of the leading advantages derived to man from the physical structure and powers of this animal: nor are those advantages of slight moment which are derived from its docile and patient disposition. It is no slight advantage, for instance, considering the great height of the animal, which usually exceeds six or seven feet, that the camel is easily taught to bend down its body on its limbs, in order to be laden: and, indeed, if the weight to be placed on its back be previously so distributed, as to be balanced on an intervening yoke of a convenient form, it will spontaneously direct its neck under the yoke, and afterwards transfer the weight to its back. St. Hilaire and Cuvier, from whom the substance of much of the preceding account is taken, assert, that, if after having laid down and received the intended freight, the camel should find it inconveniently heavy, it will not rise till a part has been taken off; and that, when fatigued by long travel, it will proceed more readily and easily if the driver sing some familiar tune. This however is a quality not peculiar to the camel. Considered only thus far in its history, the camel easily stands pre-eminent, as the most useful, among all the species of ruminating animals, in the bodily or mechanical services which it renders to man: it is almost indeed the rival of the horse, even when compared in a general point of view; but more than its rival in its particular arena, the desert. The reindeer assists the individual wants of the Laplander by conveying his sledge over the frozen surface of the snow: and the ox, on a more enlarged scale of labour, is employed in some countries in ploughing, or in the draught of heavy weights: but the camel was from time immemorial, up to a comparatively recent period, almost the sole intermedium of the principal part of the commerce of the whole world. Thus the spices and other rich merchandise of the East, being brought to the confines of Arabia, were conveyed on the backs of camels across the desert, and thence finding their way to the trading cities of Phenicia, while they yet flourished-and subsequently, after their destruction or decay, to Alexandria— they were distributed over the continent of Europe; enriching whole nations by the profits of the mere transfer: for thus Venice became not only the mistress of the Adriatic and Mediterranean, but in a measure the arbitress of the whole world "And such she was;-her daughters had their dowers Monarchs partook, and deem'd their dignity increased.” |