The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1885-05-28
SHIP OF THE DESERT.
What the Arab Calls the Most
Useful Of Beasts.
The Land of the Camel-Hls Speed and
the Load He Carries His Powers of
Endurance-In the Service OF
Warlike Sovereigns.

The camel, whose area of serv-.
itude extends over a wide range,
embracing Arabia, India, Persia and
the largest portion of Africa unlike
the rest of mans four-footed friends and
servants, seems to be a total stranger
to the pleasures of freedom. At what
era men first enlisted the camel into
their service it is impossible to guess,
but that it was at a very early period is
plain from the fact that 5000 camels
formed part of the wealth which the pa
tent patriarch was awarded after his.
terrible trial. The Moors during their
rule in Granada introduced the camel
into Spain. but the East was always the
real land of the eamels, the peculiari-
ties of the animal being especially
adapted for the vast deserts for which
that quarter of the globe is famous. To
carry men and merchandise across. the
arid waste an animal was needed at
once speedy. untiring, sure-footed and
capable of subsisting where vegetation
was scanty and water scarce; all these
qualifications are combined in the
camel. The pads of its spreading feet,
divided into two toes without being ex-
ternally separated, prevent It's sinking
in the sand, over which it moves so
noiselessly that it has been poetically
and appropriately termed ''the ship of
the desert" The callosities on the
flexures of the limbs and chest,
upon which the animal rests or kneels
to receive its load, prevent the skin
from cracking from contact with the
hot sand. The nostrils, closing at will,
exclude the burning grains when the
simeon sweeps across the desert, while
the peculiar contraction of the stomach
enables the camel to. go without. water
for several days. He is as easily salts
fed in the way of eating, delighting in
the tough plants he passes on his
march, which his strong, nipper-like
teeth enable him to mastieate with COM
fort. These good qualities are not,
however, unalloyed. The camel is
liable to slip in sloppy places and dis
JOINT his hips. bears cold and wet
weather but i'll, and has so little re.
operative power that when tagged out
he generally succumbs altogether and
is left to the jackal and vulture. Even
II he should recover he becomes a poor
weak object, piteous to behold, a burden
to himself and of little use to his
master
How many days the camel can &C
without drinking has never perhap:
oeen exactly aseertained in fact, the
power. OF endurance varies greatly ir
different individuals but it has beer
stated ON very good authority that the
oromettafy can subsist nine days with
out water, though exposed the whole
ume to q heat resembling that of fur
mace. 1t is certain that when the came
does drink he always appears to be Law
ing IN stock for week or so and ba,
even been known to swallow seve,
gallons and half at one time. Tbi
allows three quarts a day. for. tel
days, which, though not sufficien
properly to queneh the thirst O
SO large an animal, may yet be able t,
keep MIN alive. Comparative anatomy
winch has indulged in a legion O
experiments On the structure of mucl
inferior animals. has not extended
proper degree of attention to the camel
Il has, no doubt, been ascertained tina
tnls extraordinary creature possesse
one stomach more than other. mann
malia, but curiosity has not been suffi
Gently busy with thatimmense bladder
streaked with sanguine veins, which tn
animal sometimes blows out of its mout
Ih spring. In strings of thirty or fort
nave noticed, during the greatest hea
OF the day, a majority amusing them
selves after this fashion. On such occa
sons they will raise their heads. loo
around wildly and then. with a. strange
offensive noise. draw up the bag ffor
their throats and blow it out inflated /
us fullest extent, as if to cool it by til
touch of the external air. In a fe,
minutes they would suffer it to collaps
ana suck it back with ruckling nois