DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.24999#0019
INTRODUCTION
m [IE Camel and the Dromedary may be studied to the greatest advantage in
1 Egypt, Arabia, and part of Asia Minor. In those countries there is no
animal so useful as the Camel, and nowhere is there a more beautiful object than
the Dromedary, when saddled and covered with its fantastic trappings. The latter
is not a creature with two humps, such as the Bactrian Camel is supposed to be,
but an animal of the same kind as the Camel, of more slender proportions, and
exclusively used for riding. The Camel, on the contrary, is a large and powerful
creature, used for carrying heavy burdens. The Dromedary may be appropriately
compared to the Race-horse, the Camel to the Draught-horse/
The young Dromedary is a most interesting animal, and I have often been
much amused by feeding it and watching its playful antics. It will take a morsel
of bread from the hand and gallop off with delight, returning immediately for
more. At thirteen months old it is able to follow its mother during a journey of
many days. In my small caravan, in Arabia, one of these young creatures marched
with us for eight or nine hours without a halt, and in the evening when the tents
were pitched, and the Camels unladen, it would run after its mother in search
of food.
The hair on the young of both varieties is of a woolly texture, and of various
lengths. On one occasion I had the good fortune to meet a drove of Camels and
Dromedaries, many of them very young, and so had an excellent opportunity of
observing their slender proportions and unshaven skins, the hairs of which varied
from white to greys of different shades, and from the lightest to the darkest
brown.
It is a common practice to shave Camels close to the skin, in order to
G
m [IE Camel and the Dromedary may be studied to the greatest advantage in
1 Egypt, Arabia, and part of Asia Minor. In those countries there is no
animal so useful as the Camel, and nowhere is there a more beautiful object than
the Dromedary, when saddled and covered with its fantastic trappings. The latter
is not a creature with two humps, such as the Bactrian Camel is supposed to be,
but an animal of the same kind as the Camel, of more slender proportions, and
exclusively used for riding. The Camel, on the contrary, is a large and powerful
creature, used for carrying heavy burdens. The Dromedary may be appropriately
compared to the Race-horse, the Camel to the Draught-horse/
The young Dromedary is a most interesting animal, and I have often been
much amused by feeding it and watching its playful antics. It will take a morsel
of bread from the hand and gallop off with delight, returning immediately for
more. At thirteen months old it is able to follow its mother during a journey of
many days. In my small caravan, in Arabia, one of these young creatures marched
with us for eight or nine hours without a halt, and in the evening when the tents
were pitched, and the Camels unladen, it would run after its mother in search
of food.
The hair on the young of both varieties is of a woolly texture, and of various
lengths. On one occasion I had the good fortune to meet a drove of Camels and
Dromedaries, many of them very young, and so had an excellent opportunity of
observing their slender proportions and unshaven skins, the hairs of which varied
from white to greys of different shades, and from the lightest to the darkest
brown.
It is a common practice to shave Camels close to the skin, in order to
G