The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1857-02-26
Fran tie ". o. Delta.
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE CAMEL.

H'eht, ~. -. a., HIS laFOfeu us With an IN
teresting account Of the habits of the camel,
from which we make the following en-
tracts:
The camel appears to eat whatever veg
citation the earth produces; he loves to
gather his own food, and will then cat al
most everything. II his food is given to
him ready cut or gathered, he becomes very
fastidious, and cares only for tliistles or Il
few tender herbs. AS a general rule care
must DC taken that the camel is not sent
out to feed before the dew is off the grass
ten ut night is good hour to return them
from the pasture. In autumn they are sent
ont after sunrise and returned from pasture
after sunset. In winter they are pasturcd
as in autumn, but they arc only allowed to
drink when the water has been warmed by
the sun. Camcls are in the habit of lying
down and runinating OH their arrival ut
camp; they must he compelled to rise and
cat, because as they sleep only four hours,
they have time to runinatc during the
night. In regard to the dew the Arabs are
not agreed as to lis injurious effects; the
French in Algeria, however, deem it hurlfuI.
Barley and straw (hrokcn) are given to the
camel when paSturage cannot he had
w hen Oh march or on arrival ut camp,
no hrrLage or feed can he found, the camel
then has given to it Il few balls Of dough
made of wheat. horse bean and barley -four.
Sustained by this, the traveller, Shaw, SAYS
he has seen a camel carry IL lo,I of 100 lbs.
for ten or fifteen hours per day without
stepping. The Arabs shy it is necessary to
let the camel have ras,uragc and Young
shrubs i'll the summer, and they give it nci-
thcr barley nor straw. 1t suLsists on what
it can get !or itself, lac!:-:;mg Spinious veg
ctab'es, except aloe, wllicl, it disIikc* To
f;'ttcn the camel, its pasturasc should he
occasionally changed. In good pasture
it will cat enough III two hours to lust twcn-
ty-four hours
MEDICINES, &C.
Tar, sulrl,ate OF copper, bi->npI,atc of
mercury, and the cautery are tn. only en-
ternal mcdcaments used hy the Arabs
Oils, rancid butter and grease are interior
remedies.
At four years old The camel is loaded an,!
used for all purposes; ai five years he is at
full visor, and remains SO up to nine years
From nine 10 thirteen years he loses his
strength, anl ut seventeen llc is Old
CAMEL LOAD.
y strong, vigorous animal can easily car
ry on level road 40 to 500 lbs; in Il
hiiv country :l'c loa'l ought not To exceed
900 lbs, saddle included. When necessity
demand, it, they can he fully loadcd even
III mountainous region, hut in that
case there must be spare animals; in tho
troop.
FACE OF TIE CAMEL.
II not ovcrlrivcn the camel will march
loade,i. from sunrise to sunset. Stretching
his neck from si,le to side Of tue road, h..
gathers the heritage within his reach and
in this manner makes his 80 or 10 miles
per day. 1t is well, or rather necessary, to
rest him every ninth day. The camel must
never be pushed, but in cases Of great ur-
Scncy. During the marcl, the pace is re-
'axeI when the ground offers good pas
turagc.
SIGNS OF AGE BY TIE TEETH.
At two years of age, the camel has no
teeth at four, he has two incisors ut five.
four incisors at six, six ncisors; at eight,
eight incisors. lie has also canine tcctI,
and molars.
THE WUMP.
The condition Of the animal can always
be judged of by the size Of its hamp, which
is formed from the superabundant nourisll-
mcnt. The re-absorption Of this glandular-
like substance compensates in measure for
scarcity of food. During long marcl,
the hump is seen gradually to diminish, and
in case of famine to disppear.
DRINK OF THE CAMEL.
The Arabs say the reason the animal
drinks so little, is because lie secretes no bile.
The quantity lie drinks at one time is from
thirty to forty pints.
| TIE cAEML's RESERVOIR.
The camel endures hunger and thirst
with patience that would be thought lit.
tie short of miraculous were ono ignorant
OF the construction of the stomach, which
not only capable of containing water in
reserve, but, according TO Cuvier, Of pro-
ducing it. The camel not only has four
stomachs, like all ruminants, but has also
in one of them a species of reservoir form
ed in cavities or cells, which may altogether
contain twenty pints Of water. This water
remains there without deterioration to such
an extent that it is stated by celebrated
traveller that he has seen a camel dsem.