The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-01-17

CAmtlS BtIhG UStU
| IN TRENCH WARFARE.
AS Many Varieties Of Camel rs Of
Horse-How British Are
Aided.
Washington, D. c., Jan. 16.-The
news that the British forces operating
near the Suez Canal have employed
camels in some of their charges against
Turkish trenches gives special inter-
! est to communication to the Ma
tional Geographical Society concern
ing these desert beasts of burden and
war-mounts A portion Of the COM
munication Is issued as the following
| bulletin:
There are almost as manv varie-
ties of camels as horses. The Arab
name for camel Is djemel. Those of
Tunisia, Tripolitania and Algeria have
| one hump and are rea-lv dromedaries.
Certain breeds Of camel can withstand
| the great heat of the Sahara Desert,
and others that of the zero weather of
| Tibet and China.
The ordinary camels of Northern
Africa tdromedaries) cost from $40
| to $50 apiece and they live on almost
anything that they can find to eat by
! the roadside; hence 1t costs next to
nothing for their native Arab owners
to keep them. Should a European
| own camels and attempt to feed them
with hay and grain he would find
that they ate great DEAL and that 1t
| would cost dollar a dav for each
one.
| During the Italian war in Tripoli
| the usual price for hiring a camel and
it's driver to take food supplies from
Ben Garden to the Turkish camp was
from sixty to seventy cents a day.
| 1T is amazing to see the rapidly
with which a herd of 500 camels will
eat to the ground large pasturage
Of prickly pear from eight to ten feet
high. Leaf stems, prickies and all.
disappear like magic
| "In many parts OF Africa the ma
tives keep all their ,3ate stones and
give them to exhausted camels. weary
| from their long Saraha march. The
| camel resists at first, and the date
stones, moistened in little water. are
| pushed forcibly by the handful, down
the camers throat, after it has been
made to kneel, and then securely fas-
| tened. In two or three days the camel
| learns to eat them of its own accord.
The natives say that these date stones
make the hump of the camel strong
and stif.
| THE camel In Its long march across
| the Sahara frequently finds very little
! TO eat and lives on the fat of its own
! hump. When this continues during
| long time the hump becomes flabby
and almost disappears The African
| broad-tailed sheep lives in the same
| way on the fat of It's own tail
| The flesh of the camel is eaten by
| the natives. The greatest delicaCy is
| the hump. which contains a great deal
of fat.
| The usual weight of the burdens
carried by camel varies from $50 to
600 pounds, for Journeys from town
to town or on the border OF the desert:
going across the desert the burden Is
less. When a camel is being laden 1t
keeps up a continual snarling. and
| should 1t be overburdened il refuses
| TO arise. Most camels are vicious and
their bite is very dangerous Hardly
| week passes at the large native hos
pitai in Tunis but some unfortunate
camel driver dies of blood poisoning
caused by a camel's bite. The grind
| ing motion of a camers Jaw brushes
! to pulp whatever 1t bites: so that the
arm or leg has to be amputated. and
blood poisoning usually sets In before
! the patient can reach the hospital.
In the interior of Northern Africa
| Is superb race OF camels known as
the mehara singular, mehart). or rae
| ing camels. The mehara owe a great
| deal to the care taken In their breed
| ing during the past 1000 wears. An
cient writers speak of camels used
| by the army OF Xerxes. more than
| 2.0o0 years ago, that had the speed OF
the fastest horses: these were doubt
less mehara
| when baby mehari is born It Is
| swathed In handages TO prevent the
stomach from getting too large and Is
taken into the family tent. where 1t is
nursed and watched over with care
| and tenderness. When a wear old It Is
| sheared and is known from then on as
la bou -keutaa, which means the father
| of the shearing'
| For the first year 1t is allowed to
wander at win and follow its mother.
The bou- keutaa IL weaned by pointed
stick being run through one nostril
and left In the wound When the
young camel tries to suckle its moth
er the stick pricks her and she kicks
the baby camel away. 1t soon leaves
the mother and learns 10 eat fresh
green shrubs. In the spring II is
sheared again and the name OF heug
replaces that of bou-keutaa.
! When 1t 10 two years old its train
ing begins. A halter is placed around
the head and cord tied to one of
the fore feet. 1t Is kept quiet first by
| gestures and the voice: later by the
| voice alone. Then the cord is loos-
ened. but should 1t make a step 1t IL
| tied again. Finally it understands
what Ia required. but the lessons are
| only terminated when IL will stand in
ono place without moving for an entire
| day.
ITO make the camel a fast runner
the rider whips 1t on both ranks with
rhinoceros hide whip and cries out
In Arabic to excite it. A young mehari
Is very fond Of its own skin. and on
being struck starts on a galiop. The
whipping keeps up and tho camel tries
to get away by running faster. The
| long legs seem like wings and It flies
past with the speed Of an ostrich II
will stop instantly at q pull on the
rein, no matter what speed 1t has been
| making.
When the rider Jumps of, or
should he happen to fall. a we'll
trained mehari win stand quite still
and wait. while should the master
happen to be injured tho faithful beast
will never leave him.
"A mehari Is never used a. Q beast
/ of burden; all IL ever carries Is a sad