The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1880-08-27

ton. 1t is wide-spreading. and is pro-
vided with iieshy pads or cushions; and.
If after certain march rest were not
given, the skin would wear of these
pads, the flesh become bare. bringing
Consequences direful, indeed. Probably
the suffering creature would kneel
down. fold its long legs under its body.
and. stretching out its long neck on tho
ground, calmly announce in camel
language that it would 60 no further.
1t is no use whatever to try to make .
camel go against his will.
If it once refuses. you have but two
ways open to you: you may quietly lie
down beside it until il is ready to move,
or you may abandon it forever. Other
course there is none.
1t is curious fact that, notwithstand-
ing the softness of the camers foot, it
can walk over the sharpest stones. or
thOrns. or roots of trees, without the
least danger of wounding itself, and
that what this strange beast most breads
is wet aud marshy ground.
We read that 1.-THE instant it places
its feet upon anything like mud, it slips
and slides, and generally, after stag
gering about like drunken man. falls
heavily on its side"
The use of the camel to the various
peoples of the East is almost incalcula-
BILE. Many an Arab finds his chief sus-
tenance in the cheese, butter and milk
of the mother camel. The flesh of
young camels is also often eaten.
The Roman Emperor Heliogabalus is
said to have reckOned camers feet one
of the daintiest dainties of his sumptu-
Gus banquets, and he considered por-
ton of tender camel roast a thing to be
by no means despised. To this day, in
deed, camers hump cut into slices and
dissolved in tea is counted a relish by
the Tartar tribes.
Cancels skin is made into straps and
sandals, while brushes and ropes, cloth
and tents, sacks and carpets, are made
entirely from cancels hair.
Every year toward the beginning of
summer the camel sheds its hair, every
bristle of which vanishes before the new
hair begins to grow. For three weeks
this bare condition lasts. His camel
ship looks as if he had been shaved
without mercy from the tip of his tailt
the top of his head. and during this
shaven season he is extremely sensitive
to the cold or wet, shaking in every
limb if drop of rain falls, shivering
painfully in the chilliness of the night air.
By-and-by the new hair begins to
grow-fine, soft, curly wool that gradu-
ally becomes long, thick, ,soft fur; and
after this, the rain may rain as much as
it likes. the night air may be as chilly
as it will, the camel will not care
grain. In that armor of Natures pro-
viding he will not SILVER or shake any
more.
The hair of a camel, on an average.
will weigh about ten pounds. 1t is said
to be sometimes finer than silk and
longer than the wool of a sheep. In the
course of my reading, a short time ago.
I met with an account of camel mar
ket in town of Tartary especially
noted for its trade in that species of live
stock.
In the center of Blue Town, it seems
there is large square, where the
animals are ranged in long rows to-
gether, their front feet raised upon mud
elevations constructed expressly for the
purpose, the object of which is to show
off the size and height of the ungainly
creatures.
The confusion and noise of this mar
ket are described as something frightful
and indescribable." with the contin-
ual chattering of the buyers and sellers
disputing noisily over their bargains,
in addition to the wild shrieking of the
camels, whose noses are pulled roughly
to make them show off their agility in
rising and kneeling.
Nature has given the camel, you must
no means of defense except |
its prolonged piercing cry, and horri-
BILE sneeze of its own, whereby the OBJ
ject of its hatred is sometimes covered
with mass of filth from its mouth.
1t cannot bite its tormentor, and-at
least the Tartar camel-seldom kicks,
or if it does, as seldom does any harm
with that fleshy foot of which 1 have
told you already.
Can you wonder, then, that the air of |
Blue Town is made hideous with the
shrieking of the camels as, to test their |
they are made to kneel while
one thing after another is piled on their
backs, and made to rise under each |
new burden, until they can rise no
longer?
sometimes while the camel is
kneeling q man gets upon its hind
heels, and holds on by the long hair of
its hump: if the camel can rise then it
is considered an animal of superior
power according to the writer above
quoted.
''The trade in camels is entirely con-
Quoted by proxy; the seller and the
buyer never settle the matter between
themselves. They select different per-
sons to sell their goods, who propose,
discuss and fix the price, the one look
L. II 4