he same time thinner
and lower, in some instances wholly lost; and the hair is shorter and
finer than that of the entire camels.

The awkward aspect of the camel, the excessive stench of its breath, its
heavy, ungraceful movements, its projecting hare-lips, the callosities
which disfigure various parts of its body, all contribute to render its
appearance repulsive; yet its extreme gentleness and docility, and the
services it renders to man, render it of pre-eminent utility, and make us
forget its deformity.

Notwithstanding the apparent softness of its feet, the camel can walk
upon the most rugged ground, upon sharp flints, or thorns, or roots of
trees, without wounding itself. Yet, if too long a journey is
continuously imposed upon it, if after a certain march you do not give it
a few days' rest, the outer skin wears off, the flesh is bared, and the
blood flows. Under such distressing circumstances, the Tartars make
sheep-skin shoes for it, but this assistance is unavailing without rest;
for if you attempt to compel the camel to proceed, it lies down, and you
are compelled either to remain with or to abandon it.

There is nothing which the camel so dreads as wet, marshy ground. The
instant it places its feet upon anything like mud, it slips and slides,
and, generally, after staggering about like a drunken man, falls heavily
on its sides.

When about to repose, it kneels down, folds its fore legs symmetrically
under its body, and stretches out its long neck before it on the ground.
In this position, it looks just like a monstrous snail.

Every year, towards the close of spring, the camel sheds its hair, every
individual bristle of which disappears before a single sprout of the new
stock comes up. For twenty days the animal remains completely bare, as
though it had been closely shaved all over, from the top of the head to
the extremity of the tail. At this juncture, it is excessively sensitive
to cold or wet; and you see it, at the slightest chillness in the air or
the least drop of rain, shivering and shaking in every limb, like a man
without clothes exposed on the snow. By degrees the new hair shows
itself, in the form of fine, soft, curling wool, which gradually becomes
a long, thick fur, capable of resisting the extremest inclemency of the
weather. The greatest delight of the animal is to walk in the teeth of
the north wind, or to stand motionless on the summit of a bill, beaten by
the storm and inhaling