News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-10-18

come up too. When 1t did, got OIL
again. at the expense of the cuticle of
my nose. [ then expressed my feelings
briefly but vigorously. The conclusion
forced itself irresistibly on my mind
that there were more points about a
camels method of getting up than
would appear at first sight. Hassan
seemed to have no difficulty in keeping
his seat why, then, should I? I de-
termined to experiment, and told
Hassan to make the camel get up again
without me. l attentively observed
his actions, and found that he really
did get up one end at a time. 1t
seemed curious, but 1 was fain to accept
it. At last, however, [ overcame all
difficulty, and started boldly down the
road. The camel walked-at least Has
san said so; l am not sure what he did.
As far as can be recolIected now, he
slid arst one side of his body, then the
other, along. It is an insidiOus kind of
motion. You imagine it is easy for
a while; then you think it is one of the
most ingenious methods of torture
known. After proceeding few yards I
became more emboldened, and put my
tylopod into a trot; but having no de-
sire for immediate disintegratiOn, re
lapsed into a walk. We at last reached
a small creek, which, curiOusly enough,
had some water in it. The camel was
evidently overpowered at the sight, for
he laid down and rolled in it, after de-
posting me few yards away. [ did
not like this, so determined to return.
The Joint efforts of Hassan and myself
wereneeded to induce the beast to come
out of the water. 1t was such d rarity
to him that he wished to make the most
of it. When we had returned, I natu-
rally wished to descend. How was it to
be done? Hassan solved the conun-
drum. He said, "Whishtah," and the
camel went down on his knees, dexter
ously shooting me over his head. |
thought this was rude in the camel, but
Hassan said they always lie down that
way. This knowledge, however, did
not heal my bruises. The next morn
ing / was unable to walk with my pris.
tine agility.
This day was the first of many. For
two years [ was doomed by stern fate
to ride those tylopods. During the first
six months of that time Twas too closely
employed III attending to the manned
portions of my poor body to view camels
in any other light but that of execration.
[ still execrate. But when physically
able l studied them. They seemed to
be worth a certain amount of study.
They are so beautifully adapted for pur-
poses of torture
The camel, taken per Sc, and exam
ined with the calm eye of reason, is
somewhat paradoxical, even in his best
moments. His appetite, for instance:
as previously put, the goat is the only
animal which approaches him in this
respect. But the camel has left the
goat in the shade, and with n laudable
scientific spirit has opened up new and
startling lines of investigation in the
food question. A goat draws the line at
tobacco. A camel chews it in a thank
full and meditative frame of mind, and
wishes for more. He has been known
to eat stones. Empty sardine tins lie
absorbs with the zest of cOnnoisseur.
"Damper'' he idOlizes. Dry sticks he
can worry down on a pinch. Meat in
the last stage of decomposition is looked
upon by him with favor. But the thorn
| lest species of acacia are his forte. He
devours an acre or two of these bushes
with the air of Brillat-Savarin eating a
Strasburg pie. Another interesting
point is that he never gets enough. His
capacity for containing food completely
demolishes all present theories upon the
| laws of space and dimensions. The
writer has tried more than once to fill Il
| tvIopod, but he never succeeded. A
| friend of mine nearly did it once, but
the camel burst before we could make
exact observations. My friend gave
him Just little tin of nitro -glycerine.
! The camel expanded before us like the
poodle in Faust, and like him vanished
into smoke.
An Afghan once told me that in his
country camels could be filled. L be
| lieved it, for 1 understood that camels
could do many things in his country that
they could not do here-go without
water for a year or two, travel three
hundred miles a day, never get sore
backs. The time his camel got filed he
ate a hay-stack, and with it, as a sort o
sauce Iig,tdnte, three of the Afghan
brothers, who were lying upon it. Thi
Afghan said it was not the hay-stacl
which filled the camel, but his brothers
I believed him. | never saw camel ca
an Afghan, but have often wished thei
: appetites would take a turn that way.
, would have been a soothing sight to
man who has been afflicted with them a
fellow travellers. A camel is very ba
by himself, but when taken in conneC
ton with an Afghan he is simply mad
dening. A gentleman who has ha
| much experience in both of these art
} cIes assured the writer with tears in hi
eyes that he had no doubt there ha
= been a decided increase of insanity
s South Australia since camels and Afghan
e had been introduced there. Before the
4 came with their insidious infuenCt
= colonial beer and Queensland rum wei
: the only causes producing any insanit
t beyond what is natural to the inhab
+ tants of the region. Now, alas thel
i are very few men there who are nt
I more or less insane.
Taken separately, camels and Afghan
4 can be dealt with; together, they form
t disastrous social problem we are as y
= incompetent to solve. In regard to di
l position, camels, with few exception
, are abOminabIe. They are vindictive al
= cunning When their wrath is excite
s from any cause, not only do they el
4 deavor to trampIe upon you, but add il
suit to injury 10y splitting deliberately
your face. Now in this matter of e
l pectoration they are second to non
\ Even a Missourian with Quid of jam
= River XXX in his capacious mout
J. would have to bc content with baC
:, seat. A camel never misses his all
+. One has been known to hit man III Il
it eye with three or four gallons of I'll
It noxiuus fluid at distance of forty fee
Y An Afuhau told me that in his count