[Three Hundred Animals Contents]
IS a native of Asia, and is generally of a brown colour. He is one of the most useful quadrupeds in oriental countries; his docility and strength, his sobriety, and swiftness on the sands of Arabia, Lybia and Egypt, make him a most valuable acquisition to the inhabitants of those places. Several fables have been handed about concerning this animal of burthen, which are so foolish that it would be abusing the patience of the reader if we were to repeat them. The principal characteristics of the Camels are these: They carry two large and hard bunches on their back, are destitute of horns; have six cutting teeth in each of their lower jaws, and none in the upper; their upper lips are divided like those of hares; and their hoofs are small and undeciduous. A large Camel is capable of carrying a thousand, and sometimes twelve hundred weight. This animal, like the elephant, is tame, tractable, and strong; like the horse, he gives security to his rider; and, like the cow, he furnishes his owner with meat for his table, and milk for his drink. The flesh of the young Camel is esteemed a delicacy, and the milk of the females, diluted with water, is the common drink of the Arabians. The female goes one year with young, and produces but one at a time. The Camel kneels to receive his burden, and it is said that he refuses to rise if his master imposes upon him a weight above his native strength. Long inured to slavery, the result of domesticity, he wears on his knees the stigma of servitude, and sleeps promiscuously with the Arab, his wife and children, under the tent, in the parched and extensive sands of the Levant.
