page_title: Camel train
section_title: Camels
hierarchical_section_title: Camel train / Camel caravan organization / Camels
caption_attribution_description: English: A relief sculpture of a camel caravan on the plaza at the eastern end of Marco Polo Bridge (and the western gate of Wanping Castle) Русский: На площади у западных ворот крепости Ваньпин и восточного входа на мост Марко Поло
context_page_description: A camel train or caravan is a series of camels carrying passengers and goods on a regular or semi-regular service between points. Although they rarely travelled faster than the walking speed of a person, camels' ability to withstand harsh conditions made them ideal for communication and trade in the desert areas of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula for centuries. Camel trains were also used sparingly elsewhere around the globe. Since the early 20th century they have been largely replaced by motorized vehicles or air traffic.
context_section_description: Caravans originating from both ends of the Hohhot-Gucheng route were composed of two-humped Bactrian camels, suitable for the climate on the area, although very occasionally one could see single-humped Dromedaries brought to this route by Uighur ("Turki", in Lattimore's parlance) caravan people from Hami A caravan would be normally composed of a number of files (Chinese: 连, lian), of up to 18 camels each. Each of the rank-and-file caravan men, known as the camel-pullers (Chinese: 拉骆驼的, la luotuo-de), was in charge of one such file. On the march, the camel-puller's job was to lead the first camel of his file by a rope tied to a peg attached to its nose, each of the other camels of the file being led by means of similar rope by the camel in front of it. Two files (lian) formed a ba, and the camel-pullers of the two files would help each other when loading cargo on the camels at the beginning of each day's march or unloading it when halted. To do their job properly camel-pullers had to be experts on camels: as Lattimore comments, "because there is no good doctoring known for him [a camel] when he is sick, they must learn how to keep him well." Taking care of camels' health included the ability to find the best available grazing for them and keeping them away from poisonous plants; knowledge of when one should not allow a camel to drink too much water; how to park camels for the night, allowing them to obtain the best possible shelter from wind-blown snow in winter; how to properly distribute the load to prevent it from hurting the animal; and how to treat minor injuries of the camels, such as blisters or pack-sores.
  The loading of camels was described by Mildred Cable and Francesca French in their book Through Jade Gate and Central Asia (1927): «In the loading of a camel its grumblings commence as the first bale is placed on its back, and continue uninterruptedly until the load is equal to its strength, but as soon as it shows signs of being in excess, the grumbling ceases suddenly, and then the driver says: "Enough! put no more on this beast!"»
caption: A modern sculptor's depiction of (the head of) a caravan approaching Beijing, complete with a camel-puller and a mounted caravan master, head cook, or  xiansheng riding next to him. In the deserts of Mongolia, one would not see a dignitary in a sedan chair travelling along, nor would a baby camel accompany its mother.[6]
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