Frederick Russell Burnham,
Statement of Major Frederick Russell Burnham
“ We brought the camel over here, but we did not bring the men that could teach us how to use it. When you put camels in charge of a man who does not understand them, I am free to confess that you are doing about as sensible a thing as if you should take a man from a pile of brick and mortar and send him out west to catch a broncho and ask him to kindly go opt and ride it. ”
Frederick Russell Burnham,
Statement of Major Frederick Russell Burnham
“ They made the mistake, however, of not bringing anybody who understood the camel. We think we are a very progressive people, but, as a matter of fact, when we go abroad we come to the conclusion that the Americans do not know everything. The Australians have made use of the camel a great deal better than we have. The Dutchman can handle an ox better than any American that ever lived. I had to learn that, much against my prejudices, when I arrived in Africa; and there are a good many other things that they can do better than we can. ”
Frederick Russell Burnham,
Statement of Major Frederick Russell Burnham
“ Sturdy, a man enthusiastic in the propagation and crossing of the animals. Another experiment was carried on in Rhodesia, when we took the American coaches from Johannesburg to Buluwavo, a drive of 500 miles, by mules; and a great many of them died of the tsetse fly. Mr. Ziebrink, a very enterprising man, introduced the zebra, and they domesticated them and hitched them into the coaches. But there, again, the animals get sulky; they refuse to pull, and you can do nothing with them. They are more like a burro — more like a donkey; they have a disposition more like a donkey. ”
