Bible Animals;

e Camel-Thirst-enduring capability-The internal reservoir-The hump, and its use to the animal-The Camel as a beast of draught and burden-How the Camel is laden-Knowledge of its own powers-Camels for r

Deloul-The Camel-posts of Bornu-Camel-drivers and their conduct-The

mp, and the Bactrian Camel (Camelus Bactrianus), which has two of these curious projections. There is a popular but erroneous idea that the dromedary and the Camel are two distinct animals, the latter being distinguished by its huge h

and in former times it played a part in Jewish history scarcely inferior

is animal, and it is mentioned in the New Testament nearly two thousand years after we meet with it in the Book of Genesis. The earliest mention of the Camel occu

their flesh, but for their extreme use as beasts of burden, without which he could never have travelled over that wild and pathless land. The whole of Abram's outer li

that Rebekah was selected as Isaac's wife (see Gen. xxiv. 10, 19). In after days, when Jacob was about to leave Laban, these animals are mentioned as an important part of his wealth: "And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cat

t the Midianites and Amalekites possessed "camels without number, as the sand by the seaside for multitude" (Judg. vii. 12); and that the Reubenites,

rty mothers, each with her calf. They were important enough to be guarded by men of position. In 1 Chron. xxvii. 30, we find that the charge of David's Camels was confided to one of his officers, Obil the Ishmaelite, who, from his origin, might be suppos

ses of the Camel, and first

sent day are quite as fastidious as their ancestors in keeping the Mosaic law, we are justified in concluding that, although they would not eat the flesh of the animal, they drank its milk. At the present time, the milk is used, like that of the sheep, goat, and cow, both in a fresh and curdled state, the latter being generall

related to have brought as a present to his brother Esau thirty milch Camels, together with their young. So decided a stre

t the prohibition extended only to eating and not to drinking, and t

ich the Camel might be used

ernal construction, to imbibe at one draught a quantity of water which will last for a considerable time. It is furnished with a series of cells, into which the water runs as fast as it is drunk, and in which it can be kept for some time without

ply of water has been exhausted, partly by the travellers and partly by the burning heat which causes it to evaporate through the pores of the goat-skin bottle in which it

to enable them to reach a well or fountain in which water still remains. The water which is thus obtained is unaltered, except by a greenish hue, the result of mixing with the remain

vour disappear, and the water becomes fresh, clear, and limpid. So wonderfully well do the internal cells preserve the water, that after a Camel has be

nk in several days. So far from being independent of water, there is no animal that requires it more, or displays a stronger desire for it. A thirsty Camel possesses the power of scenting water at a very great distance, and, when it does so, its instincts conquer its education, and it goes off at full speed towards the spot, wholly igno

luxury. The Arab, for example, can scarcely have a greater treat than a Camel-feast, and looks forward to it in a state of wonderful ex

best part of the animal, and is always offered to the chief among the guests, just as the North American Indian offers the hump of the bison to the most import

h varies in size, not only in the species, but in the individual. It is analogous to the hump upon the shoulders of the

worked, the hump becomes soft and flaccid, and in bad cases hangs down on one side like a thick flap of skin. Consequently, the dealers in Camels always try to produce their animals in the market with their humps well developed; and, if they find that thi

t, that they are two totally distinct animals. Now the fact is that the Camel of Palestine is of one species only, the dromedary being a lighter and swifter breed, and differing from the o

e drawn by Camels and some by asses. It is, however, remarkable that in Kennard's "Eastern Experiences," these two very useful animals are mentioned as being yoked together: "We passed through a fertile country, watching the fellaheen at their agricultural labours, and not a little amused at sometimes remarking a very tall camel and a ver

every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden." Again, in 1 Chron. xii. 40: "Moreover they that were nigh them, even unto Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on camels, an

ME

reasures upon the bunche

d the ends firmly sewn together, so as to form a great ring, which is placed over the hump, and forms a tolerably flat surface. A wooden framework is tied on the pack-saddle, and is kept in its place by a girth and a crupper. The packages which the Camel is to carry are fastened together by cords, and slung over the saddle. They are o

together inferior breed to those which are employed to carry riders, and all their accoutrements are of a ruder and mea

rry varies much, according to the strength of the individual, which has given rise to the Oriental proverb, "As the camel, so the load." But an animal of ordinary strength is supposed to be able to carry from five to six hundred pounds for a short journey, and half as much for a long one,-a quantity which, as the reader will see, is not so very g

or ordinary purposes, and those which are specially bred for speed and endurance. There is as much difference between the ordinary riding Camel and the s

e pack-saddle on which burdens are carried, and has a long upright

ordingly it is taught to kneel until the rider is seated. Kneeling is a natural position with the Camel, which is furnished with large callosities or warts on the legs and breast, which act as cushions on which it may rest its great weight without abrading the

so that a novice is first pitched forward, then backward, then forward, and then backward again, to the very great disarrangement of his garments, and the probable loss of his seat altogether.

re given. First comes Albert Smith, who declares that any one who wants to practise Camel-riding in England can do so by taking a music-stool, screwing it up as high as p

igh-stepping, harassing their riders grievously in the saddle. Even the smooth-going Camel is, however, very trying at first, on account of its long swinging

e. Change of attitude is but little use, and the wretched traveller derives but scant comfort from the advice of his guide, who tells him to allow his body to swing freely, and that in a short time he will become used to it. Some days, however, are generally consumed before he succeeds in tra

oo great to continue long in this position,I attempted to recline with my head resting upon my hand. This last man?uvre I found would not do, for the motion of the camel's h

slocated joints to the ceaseless jerking and swaying to and fro, and how that I often determined to trudge on foot over the hot desert sand all the way to Jerusalem rather than endure it longer-I shall

ease is given by Albert Smith, who states that more than once he has dozed on the back of

going and cross-grained animal must be a very severe trial to an inexperienced rider. A very amusing account of a r

ing to do well, by the way-and one of my servants, who saw how out of patience I was at the many times I had had to dismount to have it arranged,

at every step I was thrown a foot into the air, glad to come down again, bump, bump, on the saddle, by dint of holding on to the front pommel with the left hand, while the right was engaged with the bridle, which in the violence of the exercise it was impossible to change to its

ed, it was enough to frighten a much more reasonable being; so, wheeling quickly round, it upset my unstable equilibrium. Down I came head foremost to the ground, and when I looked up, my forehead streaming with blood, the first thing I saw was my Arab with the camel, which he seem

e movement of the camel in galloping throws one violently forward, and without holding on, excepting on the naked back, when the rider sits behind the hump, it is impossible to retain one's seat. I afterwards thought myself lucky in not having studied this point sooner

e shock, and runs no little risk of breaking a limb. For the average height of a Camel's back is rather more than six feet, while some animals measure seven feet from the ground to the top of t

sun are poured throughout the day; and in the second place it brings him within reach of the slightest breeze that passes above the stratum of hot air, and which comes to the traveller like the breath

as has been mentioned, is a mere wooden peg or stake, and hitching the other leg over the dangling foot. Perhaps the safest, th

he horse's saddle, inasmuch as in the latter case one position is preserved, while in the forme

iefly for the purpose of stopping the animal. The Camel is guided partly by the voice of its rider, and partly by a driving-stick, with which the neck is lightly touched on the opposite side to that whi

the Prince of Mecca. Mr. Hamilton suggests that this stick, called the "mesh'ab," is the original of the jackal-headed stick with which so many of the Egyptian deities are represented;

im," and carried them away with her, true to her affectionate though deceptive nature, which impelled her to incur the guilt of robbery for the sake of enriching her husband with the cherished teraphim of her father. From the most careful researches we learn that these teraphim were used for divining the future, and that they were made in the human form. That they were of considerable size is evident from the fact that, when Saul was hunting after David, his wife Micha

s family nest was mounted on a large camel. It seemed a most commodious and well-arranged travelling carriage, and very superior as a mode of camel-riding to that which our Sitteen rejoiced in (i.e. riding upon a saddle). The Arab wife could change her posi

es mentioned in the Bible; namely, the ornaments with which the pr

ostly ornaments in Judges viii. When Gideon warred against Succoth, he captured the two chiefs or kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and, after putting them to death, he "took away the ornaments that were on their camels' necks,"-or, as the marginal translation has it, their "ornaments like the moon," i.e. crescent-shaped; this form having been retained unchanged for three thousand years. (Judges viii. 21.) The v

sted was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their ca

rie, the Maharik, or the Deloul, the last of these terms

ounce of superfluous fat upon them, the shoulders are ver

m its beauty. An Arab of the desert, however, thinks a good Deloul one of the finest sights in the world. As the talk of the pastoral tribes is of sheep and oxen, so is the talk of the nomads about Camels. It is a subject which is for ever on their l

swinging, and its body swaying, as if it were but an animated machine. Delouls have been reported to have journeyed for nearly fifty hours without a single stop for rest, during which time the animals must have traversed nearly five hundre

thern bands, one just under the arms, and the other round the pit of the stomach. Without these precautions, the rider would be likely to suffer serio

dary from Mecca to Medina in forty-eight hours, the distance being two hundred and forty miles. A

service of these animals is established, two couriers always travelling in company, so that if one rider or Camel should fail or be ca

AMEL

the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah." In this passage a distinction is drawn between the ordinary Camel and the swift dromedary, the former being the word "

ere is considerable uncertainty about the proper rendering. It runs as follows: "And he wrote in king Ahasuerus' name, and s

the racers, mules, and young mares." Now, the word rekesh, which is translated as "racer," is rendered by Buxtorf as "a swift

ls with the curious inconsistency which form

gins, and it goes on without cessation in a sort of monotonous hum, as Dr. Bonar calls it. The same traveller calls attention to a passage in Caussinus' "Polyhistor Symbolicus," in which the learned and didactic author symbolizes the maxi

f some Bedouins: "Their songs were already subdued to harmonize with their monotonous s

e as the sigh

u, O my

e as the heal

u, O my

my ears i

ling bells,

to thy lis

d of my eve

n, ad li

ner of the Camel carrying the young one in his arms until the evening halt. He then gives it to its mother, and on the following day it is able to follo

e almost all other animals, the Camel seems to have no idea of play, and even the young Camel of a

a Camel fall exhausted, removing its load, and distributing it among the other Camels. As soon as this is done, he gives the signal to proceed, and goes on his way, abandoning t

CA