The daily national Whig. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1847-1849, 1849-06-20
CAMELs.

CAMELS.
Lieut.. LYNCH, in his book upon the Dead
Sea, has good deal to say about camels,
and as some interest is manifested Just now,
in their introduction into this country as
beasts Of burden and for war purposes, we
make the flowing extracts:
The most striking, living feature Of the
East, i the long strings Of camels, huge,
meek-looking beasts, with long necks and
small projecting heads, tramping along
"ualer enormous loads, with their great
"pulpy, India rubber splay feet, up. SO.
"Kneelng on the sands, on each side Of
" the river, above and below the bridge, were
" many hundreds Of camels, with their heavy
"packs beside them. 1t was the hour Of
"feeding, and arranged with their heads in
" the centres Of circles, Of which their tails
/" formed the peripheries, without noise, they
+" ate the dry straw which was placed before
"them. While we looked on, the hour
"elapsed, and the burdens were replaced on
" the backs Of the patient animals. AL
" though constituting number Of separate
caravans, they were all, evidently, sub
ject to the same regulations. At given
!" signal they slowly raised one foot and then
another from beneath them, and then with
"a peculiar cry, plaintive yet discordant,
jerked themselves, as it We're, to an erect
"position. The turbaned drivers, the un-
"couth, patient camels, and the tnkling
"bells formed a scene truly Asiatic. .
"p. Al.
"There seemed to be no alternative but
to take the boats apart and transport them
in sections, unless camels could be made
to draw in harness, and determined to
"try the experiment. During the night |
suffered dreadfally from the nightmare,
and the incubus was canal. Sunday,
April 2.--In the afternoon, when the re-
ligious exercises Of the day were over, the
experiment Of substituting camels for
draught horses was tried and proped sue
cessful, and my heart throbbed with gra-
titude, as the huge animals, three to each,
marched of with the trucks, the boats
upon them, with perfect ease, Y
for camels, at least, could be had in abund
" ance. n The first attempt to
draw the trucks by camels was novel
sight, witnessed by an eager crowd of
people The successful result taught
them the existence Of an unknown ac-
compishmeht in that patient and power
!" full animal, which they had before thought
I" fit only to ploG along with its heavy load
upon its back! The qualities Of the cam
Ell, uncouth and clumsy as he is, are scarce
sly appreciated in the East, or he would
be more carefully tended : Porus
used them against Alexander, and the
Parthians against Crassus. p. 1876.
There is no question, that if the camel
" were well fed and gently treated, it would
" sustain the character ascribed to it bv par
+" tial writer's. The soft, spongy, lndia-rub-
/" Der looking foot Of the camel is eaten by
" the Arabs and considered great luxury"
p. 1913.
The camel being quite wild, racked of
"at full speed on their approach, and the
" scouts Immediately started in pursuit. Its
81 motion in running, although awkward, was
" exceedingly rapid; dashing ahead at a
i" long and stretching pace and outstripping
" most Of the horses in pursuit. Its whole
+" body swayed regularly with its peculiar
+" racking motion, as before remarked, ex-
" actly like the yawing Of ship before the
F" wind. Whether it walks or runs, the
g camel ever throws forward its hind and
G fore leg on the same side, at the same
/" time, as horse does in pacing. The fu-
gitive was soon caught" p. 257
D.