The Camel
The camel is called the ‘ship of the desert’ Men can cross the sea only by sailing on ships. Similarly, the deserts cannot be crossed without the Camel. The hot and sandy deserts are a challenge to all animals.
No animal can survive the heat of the deserts and face the desert storms. So from early days people have depended upon camels to face the ordeal of crossing the deserts.
Camels can travel very long distances without getting tired and they can move for a long time and a long distance without food or water.
They carry heavy stores of water in the cells of their stomach and a large amount of fat in their humps.
While the animal is not getting enough food, it starts feeding on its hump. The camel is very strong and can walk day after day without getting tired.
Many deserts are found in Arabia, Egypt, Persia, Turkey, Israel, Jordon and Asia Minor. They are also found in Spain, Italy and North Africa The camels are common in all these places.
The camels are of two kinds. A camel having one hump and the other with two humps, the first is the Arabian camel and the second Bactrian.
The Arabian camel moves faster than the Bactrian camel but the latter is very tall and has a thick coat useful in the cold mountainous countries like the Afghanistan.
A group of camels loaded with goods and passengers is called a Caravan. It is very beautiful look at the camels laden with men women and goods walking one after another with their heads held proudly up. They walk softly without caring for anybody.
The camel is very bad tempered and very quickly irritated. When it is compelled to kneel down for loading and unloading it groans and snarls. It is very cross. When it is made to rise, it protests strongly.
Sometimes in a bad mood a camel may hate dangerously with its strong teeth.
There is a story of a camel who bit the head off a boy who ill treated the camel by severely beating it.
