Bactrian camel

“ The two living species are distinguishable at a glance. It may be mentioned that the Bactrian camel, which is a shorter-legged and more ponderous animal than the Arabian species, grows an enormously long and thick winter coat, which is shed in blanket-like masses in spring. ”

“ It was much better fun for the lookers-on than for the riders. In camel-riding a saddle is not used, as on the horse, but a sort of platform is fastened on the hump.
The camel we have so far spoken of is the one-humped Arabian kind. The two-humped or Bactrian species is larger and stronger but is not nearly so common. It is found in the desert region of the north from the Black Sea to China. Both kinds are found in Central Asia, but the Bactrian goes as far north as Siberia, where the cold is often very severe and it has to live on the leaves and twigs of the willow and birch trees. ”

“ On the other hand, the Bactrian species, which is employed throughout a large tract of central Asia in the domesticated condition, appears, according to recent researches, to exist in the wild state in some of the central Asian deserts. From the examination of specimens collected by Dr Sven Hedin, Professor W. Leche shows that the wild Bactrian camel differs from the domesticated breed of central Asia in the following external characters: the humps are smaller; the long hair does not occupy nearly so much of the body ”

“ In point of speed it cannot approach the Arabian dromedary, although it is little inferior to the ordinary camel of burden. About two and a half miles per hour is the average pace at which a pair of Bactrian camels will draw a load, varying in weight from three to four thousand pounds; and if they travel over a well-made road, they can do their thirty miles a day for many successive days. In countries, therefore, which are adapted to its habits, the camel is far superior to any other beast of burden, whether for draught or carriage. ”

“ The food of the camel is most cleanly; but nothing can be more offensive than the effluvia which proceeds from its stomach. The journeys performed, even with our caravan, bespeak the great hardihood of these animals. In one instance we travelled seventy miles in forty-four consecutive hours, including every halt. Our usual marches were thirty miles: and the camel scarcely ever travels more than two miles in the hour. The Bactrian camel, which has two humps, abounds in Toorkistan: they are bred by the Kuzzaks of the desert north of Bokhara. ”

“ The two main species, not to speak of varieties, are the Southern, Arabian one-humped camel and the Northern, Bactrian two-humped camel. Each is specially adapted to its locality. The Bactrian camel is long-haired, tolerant of the intense cold of the steppes and is said to eat snow when thirsty. The Arabian species is short-haired, intolerant of cold, but able to endure thirst and extreme heat. It is incredible to Arabs that any camel-kind should have a double hump. A camel differs from a dromedary in nothing save blood and breed. ”

“ The fleece of the Bactrian camel ought to weigh about ten pounds, and is used for making a coarse and strong cloth. In the summer time the hair becomes loose, and is easily plucked off by hand, just as sheep used to be “rowed” before shears were employed in removing the wool. The camel in the Zoölogical Gardens may be seen in the summer time in a very ragged state, its fleece hanging in bunches in some parts of the body, while others are quite bare. ”

“ This species is often called the Dromedary; but, as we have already remarked, this is an error. The dromedary is a swift breed of the Arabian camel. The Bactrian Camel may be distinguished from its Arabian relative by the fact that it has two humps, is shorter in the leg and heavier, and has longer hair and stouter and harder feet. The shorter legs are distinctly advantageous, enabling the animal to get about with ease and safety over rocky and hilly ground. ”

“ Coarser camel’s wool or hair is imported for various purposes.
The Bactrian camel can carry one thousand pounds weight or more, and the dromedary proper can cover one hundred miles in a day. The ordinary jog of a camel is about two and one-half miles an hour, but this can be kept up for many days with little food and less drink. A swift dromedary may go ten miles an hour. A thousand or more may journey in a caravan, and the amount of food carried is surprisingly small. The hump must be in good condition before starting. In the stomach-reservoirs a gallon and a half of water can be stowed away. ”

“ The camels breasted the storm bravely, and even seemed to enjoy it. The Bactrian camel, at least the Mongol variety, is peculiarly adapted for cold climates. In a hot day he is easily fatigued, and seems almost to melt away in perspiration under his load (hence our constantly travelling at night, in the early part of our journey, and resting in the heat of the day) , but in cold weather he braces himself up to his work, and the colder it gets, the better he is. ”

“ The other camel is known as the Bactrian, and is distinguished by its slightly larger size, two dorsal humps, and somewhat finer brown or reddish hair. This camel is bred in central Asia, and in its adaptability to domestication, as well as in its natural adaptation to desert life, is a most useful animal. Its frugal diet, its powers of storing water and of going long without a fresh supply, and its great strength are very familiar facts. A camel will eat almost any herbage or green thing it comes across, even dried, leafless twigs. ”

“ The genus Camelus, confined to the Old World, is made up of two quite distinct species, the Bactrian Camel, C. bactrianus, with two humps, and the Dromedary, C. dromedarius, with only one. The former species is Asiatic. It is a singular fact that neither of the species is known to occur in a genuinely wild condition. The so-called "wild" Camels appear to be invariably feral. The two species will interbreed ”

“ The ordinary burden of a small camel is from 600 to 800 lbs.; a large camel will carry 1000 lbs. or upwards, from thirty to thirty-five miles a-day; but the maharis, or those which are used for speed alone, will travel daily from twenty to thirty leagues.
The camel of the Steppes, in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, is, as I have already hinted, the Bactrian or camel strictly so called. This animal differs from his African congener in several very important physical characteristics, and perhaps also in some moral peculiarities. His two humps are smaller than the one hump of the dromedary. ”

“ Australia and America are, we conceive, particularly well calculated for the utilisation of the labours of the camel. The opinion commonly entertained that the camel can only flourish in tropical lands is most erroneous. The ordinary geographical range of this animal may be roughly stated as being between 15° and 52° of north latitude, and 15° of longitude west of Greenwich to about 120° east of it. We have had opportunities of working camels of the Bactrian, Arabian, and Saundney breeds, under more than common vicissitudes of both climate and labour ”

“ Unlike the one-humped Camel, the Bactrian species is quite at home in a cold climate, and walks over ice as easily as its congener does over smooth stone. It is an admirable rock-climber, and is said even to surpass the mule in the sureness of its tread. ”

“ But if the epithet is intended to designate an animal that takes an interest in its rider so far as a beast can, that obeys from a sort of submissive or half fellow-feeling with its master, like the horse and elephant, then I say that the camel is by no means docile, very much the contrary. He will never attempt to throw you off his back, such a trick being far beyond his limited comprehension; but if you fall off, he will never dream of stopping for you; and if turned loose it is a thousand to one he will never find his way back to his accustomed home or pasture. ”

“ When receiving his load or his rider, he lies on his belly, the legs gathered under him, and during the process or even in anticipation of it, gives forth the most horrible moans or growls. Anything more hideous than the voice of a camel when he is discontented can scarcely be conceived; the tone varies from the grunting of a pig in extremis, to the last braying note of a donkey, or the deep growl of a lion; and during the daily processes of getting ready for the march, the chorus produced by some thirty camels receiving their loads is something too horrible for description. ”

“ Phillipps and F. James went off to Amadeb, to complain to Rasalulu, a deputy of King John of Abyssinia, about our late attack, and endeavour to get their rifles back. Whether they ever succeeded in doing so I don’t know; but I should think probably not.
To-day we lost another camel; this makes the sixth we have lost in the Basé country. A camel is a particularly stupid kind of animal, and does not seem to know what is good for him, or rather, what is bad for him, for he will frequently eat a very poisonous green-looking shrub, called “heikabeet.” ”

“ With the approach of winter an antediluvian rival is introduced upon the scene, in the shape of the well-known two-humped camel, which is then shaggy, dignified, and in really grand form. Intolerant of heat, but impervious to cold, the camels, after passing the summer on the grass-lands of the Mongolian plateau, are brought down in droves to the great fair held on a large open space outside the Northern Wall. The coming of the camels with their bronzed and heavily booted riders is like a whiff of the free air of the desert. ”

“ When caught young, wild camels are easily tamed and taught to carry a pack.
Their voice, very rarely heard, is a deep, lowing noise; in this way the dams call their young; males, even during the rutting season, utter no sound, but find their consorts by scent.
We were unable to learn the duration of a camel's life; some are known to live to a great age. Our hunter-guide once chanced to kill a he-camel, with teeth completely worn down, notwithstanding which the animal was in good condition. ”

“ I imagine that these camels owe their superiority to the climate, and the congenial thorny food, which is so abundant. This animal always thrives best in a dry country, and is very impatient under heat. They will travel with ease for fourteen successive hours; but their keepers never march during the day if it can be avoided. It is erroneous to believe that the camel can subsist for any great number of days without water. In summer they suffer much after the second day; and in winter they will only travel without it for double the time. ”

“ The life of the camel is spent in one long protest against its lot. It grumbles and growls alike when it is laden and unladen, when it is ordered to rise or to kneel; to stop or to go on; it roars threateningly at any animal that approaches it, and is ready at all times to take a piece out of any one who may place himself incautiously within reach of its teeth, and even when lying down will shoot out its hind leg with wonderful activity and viciousness to a distance of some two or three yards at a passer-by. ”

“ It is very largely used in many parts of Africa and Asia as a beast of both draught and burden. Camels for riding upon, however, are generally called dromedaries, and may be regarded as a separate breed, just as hunters are a separate breed from cart-horses. And while they will travel with a rider upon their backs at a pace of eight or nine miles an hour, an ordinary camel with a load upon its back will scarcely cover a third of that distance in the same time. ”

“ An expedition which started south two weeks ago lost more than a hundred camels, from starvation, before it reached Semneh, thirty-five miles up the river. They had become so weak, that they wilted and died on the first hard march. For his size and knotty appearance, the camel is the most disappointing of beasts. He is a sheep as to endurance. As to temper, he is vindictive.
Authorities differ in regard to the distinction between the camel and the dromedary. Some say that there are no camels in Egypt, that they are all dromedaries, having one hump ”

“ There is no regular system of camel-breeding in Asia Minor, although that animal is the only beast of burden and is absolutely indispensable. Most of the animals used here come from Arabia, where they are bred by the Bedouins, and at the age of three years are broken to load. The strength of a camel begins to decline at twenty years, and after he reaches twenty-five he is not worth much. An ordinary caravan is made up of groups of seven camels in charge of one man, who leads them, feeds them, and cares for them from the time he is twenty years old until they all die together. ”

“ It is an interesting fact that, although the camel can readily be transplanted to many other parts of the world, where the physiographic conditions are similar to those of the realm where he has served man so well, he has never been thoroughly successful except in the regions where he has been in use for ages. In the desert regions of the Cordilleras of America, in South Africa, and in Australia, various experiments go to show that the creature could be perfectly reconciled to its environment. ”

“ It seldom kicks, and when it does, it almost as seldom inflicts any injury. Its soft, fleshy foot cannot wound, or even bruise you; neither can the camel bite an antagonist. In fact, its only practical means of defence against man or beast is a sort of vehement sneeze, wherewith it discharges, from nose and mouth, a mass of filth against the object which it seeks to intimidate or to annoy.
Yet the entire male camels, bore as the Tartars call them, (temen being the generic appellation of the animal) , are very formidable during the twelfth moon, which is their rutting time. ”