part of the present which Pharaoh gave to Abraham,
and it was to a company of Ishmaelites travelling from Gilead to Egypt
on camels, laden with spices, much as their Arabian descendants do at
the present day, that Joseph was sold by his brothers.

The hump (or humps) varies in size according to the condition of the
animal, becoming small and flaccid after hard work and poor diet.

During the rutting-season male camels become exceedingly savage and
dangerous, uttering a loud bubbling roar and engaging in fierce contests
with their fellows. The female carries her young for fully eleven
months, and produces only one calf at a time, which she suckles for a
year. Eight days after birth the young Arabian camel stands 3 ft. high,
but does not reach its full growth till its sixteenth or seventeenth
year; it lives from forty to fifty years. The flesh of the young camel
resembles veal, and is a favourite food of the Arabs, while camel's milk
forms an excellent and highly nutritious beverage, although it does not
furnish butter. The long hair is shorn every summer, and woven into a
variety of stuffs used by the Arab for clothing himself and his family,
and covering his tent. It was in raiment of camel's hair that John the
Baptist appeared as a preacher. The hair imported into Europe is chiefly
used in the manufacture of small brushes used by painters, while the
thick hide is formed into a very durable leather. The droppings are used
as fuel, and from the incinerated remains of these sal-ammoniac is
extracted, which was at one time largely exported from Egypt.

The Bactrian camel is, if possible, of still more importance to many of
the central Asian Mongol races, supplying them alike with food and
raiment. It is, however, as "the ship of the desert," without which vast
tracts of the earth's surface could scarcely be explored, that the camel
is specially valuable. In its fourth year its training as a beast of
burden begins, when it is taught to kneel and to rise at a given signal,
and is gradually accustomed to bear increasing loads. These vary in
weight from 500 to 1000 lb., according to the variety of camel employed,
for of the Arabian camel there are almost as many breeds as there are of
the horse. When crossing a desert camels are expected to carry their
loads 25 m. a day for three days without drink, getting a supply of
water, however, on the fourth; but the fleeter breeds will carry their
rider and a bag of water 50 m. a day