TAR EMIGRANT.]

In Persia the camel is employed for a very singular purpose. There
was, and may be now, a corps of the army which is called the camel
artillery. It consisted of a number of camels, each fitted with a
peculiar saddle, which not only accommodated the rider, but carried
a swivel-gun of about one pound calibre. These weapons had a greater
range than the ordinary Persian matchlocks, and, owing to the rapidity
with which they could be transferred from spot to spot, formed a
valuable branch of the artillery.

When the enemy saw that a detachment of the camel artillery was about
to attack them, their usual device was to reach such a position as to
force the camels to traverse wet and muddy ground, in which they were
sure to slip about, to lose all command over their limbs, and
sometimes to lame themselves completely by the hind legs slipping
apart.

Camels were especially serviceable for this purpose, because they are
wonderfully sure-footed when the ground is dry, almost rivalling the
mule in the certainty of the tread. The Arabian camel is notable for
his sure tread, but the Bactrian species is still more remarkable in
this respect. Owing, in all probability, to the elongated toe, which
projects beyond the foot, and forms a kind of claw, the Bactrian camel
can climb mountain passes with perfect security, and in consequence of
this ability is sometimes called the mountain camel.

It is as serviceable in winter as in summer. The soft, cushion-like
feet, which slide about so helplessly in mud, take a firm hold of ice,
and enable their owner to traverse a frozen surface with easy
security. In snow, too, the Bactrian camel is equally at home; and the
Calmucks would rather ride a camel than a horse in the winter, because
the longer legs of the former animal enable it to wade through the
deep snow, in which a horse could only plunge about without finding a
foothold. No greater proof of the extreme utility of this animal can
be adduced than the fact that a body of two thousand camels were
employed in conducting a military train over the "snow-clad summits
of the Indian Caucasus" in winter time, and that throughout the space
of seven months only one camel died, having been accidentally killed.

Although the camel has so strong an objection to mud, it has none to
water, and will wade across a river without hesitation. It can even
swim well when the water is too deep to be forded; but it does not
appear to have muc