Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-02-11
The Camel Can Swim.

on" of tile most amusing features Of
the introduction Of canelS into th.-
United states. the story of which has
been told in our natural history coli
u'uuS. was the prolonged discussion Ot
the question whether the. camel could
swim Or would drown. 1t had beer
stated on the authority of Father Hue
that the camel could not swim. ana
when the United States authorities
proposed to import the beasts for
tItN'i$3ng the deserts Of the South
west. tie Objection was promptly made
tHIt til" cut rrrriS. would -" futile. be-
rius,. tie c:Infrls would be unable to
cross the rivers. As the point was
d+IHolStrabl. by simple experiment
with the beast in its Asiatic home. one
might asSaliir that before purchasing
caintiS tin. authorities would have. set.
Tied lie SHiinnlins question by a pre-
lrtitiary experiment but no one APP
pears at the TIM to have thought oI
this. The cUrfous discussion WAS ear
li'ri on al the while the imporlation
W.T. III progress. The campiS were
landed at li:diamula, ana thence pro.
c'''d'd To Aibuqut rpur, 4 journey Of Il
thousand miles, consuming fnrty-uy,.
days. from Albuquerque the expaIi,ion
niirche! to Lnni. thence to the Little
Colorado. = stream too shallow for the
sN mining test; ana then on To the.
t"!"l:'do. where at last the conditions
were fuund to settle the long-involye,i
question. III" river here was from 200
10 800 yards wide with nineteen feet
OF w"ter in mid-channel flowing at the
., If lr,..
The result Of the trial was recorded in
the New York Tribune Of january -
1888.
Now it was to be proved whether
the camel could swim; test to which
Lieutenant Bcalr had looked forward
with not Il little anxiety. Having
reached the colon ado h was deter
miEti to settle the question for him
self. The urst camel brought to tn.
bank refused to enter the river: bur
another being brought down, to the
great delight Of the whole company
1t took the water freely. and swan
boldly across. The others, tied one
behind the other III strings of five. were.
taken across in the same way. They
not only swan with ease. but in this
particular, as i'll others, they seemed
to outdo the hoises and mules. This
seemed to bc the only remaining test
needed to establish the character OF
the camel as d beast of burden special
~ suited for those regions"
Thus at the end of Journey Of
thousands OF miles over land ana sea.
and after months Of anxious sperula-
ton, it WAS determined in the distant
tolorad" that the camel could swim.
and tn" bright minds Of the officers
for many months hurdeHcd with
anxious speculation, We're finally set at
rest.
had these white mon possessed the
sCnnce of 4 Carib they would have de-
cidcd the question by throwing a
cheap priced camel into the Red Sea
and Watching to see it swim or drown
Hugh Linchnt relates that when the
first Spani irdS arrived at Porto Rico
AMI the iS3andels SAW the great Shil
and heard the thunder of the cannon,
and saw the white faces. they thought
they had come down from heaven. But
III" CaSiquc GIguara made test OF
III ir immortality by promptly throw
ilG Il Spaniard into the water. to tr.
whether he would drown or not. and
seeing him wholly deprived of life. hi
concluded in consequence that the res,
Of them were mortal. and thereupor
set upon them. when they We're Seek
ing fnl gold, ana killed above a hun
dred and fifty of them.-Forest and
Stream.