the general rule of the order, having sharp and powerful canines above and below, and especially two strong pointed incisors in the upper jaw, placed laterally, so as to correspond with the last incisors on each side of the lower. And why this deviation? The Camel does not feed in verdant meadows, nor crop the tender herbage of a well-cultivated and luxuriant pasturage; such favoured spots are for the ox, the deer, the antelope but it browses on hard dry shrubs, and thorny branches of considerable thickness, which require the action of powerful teeth to bite off, as well as to masticate. To aid in the procuring of this hard fare the upper lip is cleft, and each portion is separately moveable, so as, in fact, to give an imperfect organ of prehension capable of holding towards the mouth, or drawing to the teeth the twigs or branches it selects. Sometimes, however, the Camel meets with what to it is a luxurious diet, date-leaves and aromatic shrubs; and these it can nip off with its divided lip without the agency of other instruments.

The eye of the Camel is large and prominent, so that it can take in an extensive range, and its vision is very keen; but it cannot look upward, for, in the horizontal position in which the head is always carried, the brow overhangs the orb, so as to shield it from the direct glare of the sun in a burning sky; a wise and merciful provision.

Who has not heard of the semoum, or hot wind of the desert, blowing from the south-east, and carrying along with it dense yellow clouds of sand, impeding respiration, and often suffocating the traveller to death? Even the lighter winds as they pass drive the sands in volumes before them. The fine particles with which the air is loaded, would to animals with wide and open nostrils occasion the greatest suffering; but the nostrils of the Camel are in the form of slits, which it can close or open at will; and thus, by respiring gently and gradually, it has the power of excluding the suffocating winds and sands. Of all its senses, though its hearing is very delicate, and it delights in the sound of bells, or the cheering song of its driver, that of smell is the most acute. When exhausted with fatigue and the agony of unquenched thirst, the pilgrim sees but the mirage,* a mockery of water, often pursued, but ever deluding his hopes, (fit emblem of all earthly vanities,) and gives way to the misery of despair, the Camel, snuffing the gale, is the first to bid hope revive once more, the first to indicate, by signs of dumb eloquence, that water-water,

"During the whole day's march," says Burckhardt, "we were surrounded on all sides by lakes of mirage, called by the Arabs, serab. Its colour was of the purest azure, and so clear, that the shadows of the mountains which bordered the horizon were reflected in it with the greatest precision, and the delusion of its being a sheet of water was thus rendered still more perfect. I had often seen the mirage in Syria and Egypt, but always found it of a whitish colour, rather resembling a morning mist, seldom lying steady on the plain, but in continual vibration; but here it was very different, and had the most

perfect resemblance to water.

There were, at one time, about a dozen of these false lakes around us, each separated from the other, and for the most part on the low grounds."-Nubia, p. 193.

The mirage is a phenomenon depending, most probably, upon the refraction of the rays of the sun passing through an atmosphere in contact with the heated surface of the sand; the drier the air and earth, the more perfect is the delusion.

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more precious than the most costly wines-is soon to be obtained.

The Camel is, however, of all mammalia, the best qualified for enduring long-continued thirst; frugal, temperate, and hardy, a few dates, a little meal, a cake of barley, and the shrubs of the desert, suffice as food in its journeys. Water is carried in skins for its use and that of its master, and is doled out daily with a careful hand; but it often happens that the supply falls short before fresh can be obtained, so that the traveller, with barely enough for himself, must perish if he supply his beast; and too often it fails altogether. The Camel, patient and enduring, and the only earthly chance of escape at such a crisis, has within a reservoir of fluid sufficient for the wants of its own system for four or five days; and sometimes, under circumstances of desperate emergency, is the Arab obliged unwillingly to sacrifice the life of his beast.

The paunch of the Camel's stomach has its posterior part divided into two portions by a longitudinal ridge; in these compartments is a larger and a smaller congeries of cells; and the whole is capable of being closed by muscular bands, so as to retain fluid without either suffering it to escape, or the food to mingle with it. "While the Camel is drinking," says Sir E. Home, "the action of the muscular band opens the orifice of the second cavity, at the same time that it directs the water into it; and when the cells of that cavity are full, the rest runs off into the cellular structure of the first cavity immediately below, and afterwards into the general cavity. It would appear that Camels, when accustomed to go journeys, in which they are kept for an unusual number of days without water, acquire the power of dilating the cells so as to make them contain a more than ordinary quantity as a supply for their journey; at least, such is the account given by those who have been in Egypt." The cells of the reticulum are also of extraordinary size and depth.

The Camel kneels down to be loaded; and there are seven callosities, or firm pads, for the support of its weight; for a heavy animal, and bearing a heavy load, its skin, both in the action of rising up and kneeling down, would be liable to injury against rough gravel or a hard uneven surface. These pads are one on the breast, two on each of the fore-legs, and one on each of the hind. The hump on the back of this creature is a characteristic, but not a useless appendage; of a firm, fatty consistence, it is a kind of reservoir for nutriment, being observed to diminish from absorption during long abstinence, but to increase again when food becomes abundant.

The Camel's tread is perfectly noiseless: unlike the horse, whose heavy tramp sounds over the plain, and rattles on the pavement, its footfall is silent and unheard. "What always struck me," says Mr. Macfarlane, in his Constantinople in 1828,'" as something extremely romantic and mysterious, was the noiseless step of the Camel, from the spongy nature of his foot. Whatever be the nature of the ground, sand, or rock, or turf, or paved stones, you hear no footfall; you see an immense animal approaching you stilly as a cloud floating on air; and unless he wear a bell, your sense of hearing, acute as it

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may be, will give you no intimation of his presence."

The foot of this animal, (so often referred to, and not without reason, as an evidence of design,) is divided into two toes, each having a horny tip; the division is not, however, complete; for an elastic pad or cushion, constituting the main part upon which the pressure falls, spreads broadly beneath, connecting them together, but leaving the points free. On pressing the ground, the elastic cushion expands, and the toes diverge, so that a larger surface is brought in contact with the sandy earth-a circumstance which, in

Foot of the Camel.

connexion with the elastic nature of the sole, if we may so call it, enables the creature to tread over the yielding desert, or the hard and arid plain, with almost equal comfort.

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The foot of the Camel, certainly formed by its Creator to tread a loose sandy soil," does not, however, appear to me," says the writer just quoted, to suffer from stony or hard roads. In Asia Minor, there are mountains in every direction; the paths across them are hard, rough, and loose, as rocks and broken stones can make them, yet I have often seen camels treading them without any appearance of suffering; and though I have met them in my travels, hundreds in a day, I do not remember having ever seen a wounded hoof." A soft and muddy soil is not adapted to the foot of the Camel, as it at every step keeps on its legs with difficulty. It is said, that so great is its dislike to venture upon such a track, that its drivers have been obliged to spread their tent coverings over the obnoxious ground, in order to conceal its appearance, and induce the animal to proceed.

The heavy angular body, the slender neck. the long and meagre limbs of this creature, are little in accordance with our ideas of outward grace and beauty; not so to the Arab. And why should we wonder? To him, the Camel is one of the most precious gifts of a beneficent Creator; he feels its value, he experiences its services; to him, it is a patient slave, which lives but for his interest.

Such, then, is the structure of this animal. To the mind rightly tuned, our outline, brief as it is, will impart a lesson of no trifling importance. It will serve to show how the mercy of God is displayed in all his ways; how carefully he has regarded the wants of men, and the natural obstacles, whether of soil or climate, which

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bar their progressive improvement, or diminish the sphere of their comforts; and how various races of animals are created expressly for their use. To the fur-clad native of a polar realm, he has given the shaggy Esquimaux dog; to the Laplander, the reindeer; to the dweller in fertile meads, beneath an indulgent sky, the horse and the ox; to the wanderer of the sterile desert, the camel, his trust and safety. Thus suiting his gifts to the wants and circumstances of nations, does God prove himself the Ruler of the world in wisdom and mercy.

The Camel is certainly one of the most striking examples of man's complete dominion over such animals as are necessary to his welfare: it is not now known in an unreclaimed condition; it is born and reared in the servitude of its master. The internal trade of northern Africa is altogether carried on by means of this "ship of the desert." From Egypt, and the towns along the adjacent coast of Africa, namely, Borca, Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, caravans of camels, laden with merchandise, set off at stated periods to Timbuctoo, the grand depot of commerce, and there exchange commodities with the leaders of other caravans, which arrive to meet them from the interior or more distant nations. The Sahara, or Great Desert of Africa, can be safely crossed by means of the Camel alone; hence its importance to the merchant: nor does the wandering Arab derive less benefit from its services; he loads it with his tents, his wealth, and his family, and traverses the ever-moving sands from one oasis to another; he mounts his heirie, and the marauder, whose hand is against every man, comes down like a thunderbolt on his prey.

The pace of the slow-going Camel used for burden, is about three miles an hour, tranquil and regular as clock-work; and the load of each animal is from five to six hundred weight, placed without much attention to order or the best method of packing: paniers at the sides, bales on the back, children in a bag on one side, a young camel in a bag, on the other, a heterogeneous assemblage of merchandise, water-skins, and cooking utensils, all are carried with submissive docility; nor does the creature complain unless much overloaded, when it will often sink down and expire.

The caravan of camels on the march, or reposing by the spring at evening; the courier posting on his heirie; primeval manners, customs, and language, all associated together before the eye and mind of the traveller, cannot, we should think, fail to call to remembrance those graphic descriptions in holy writ, which delineate events as characteristic of oriental manners in the present day, as in ages long gone by, when the brethren of Joseph "sat down to eat bread, when, as they looked up, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels, bringing spicery, and balm, and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt."

The use of the Camel is indeed of the earliest antiquity; and the Scriptures abound with notices illustrative of its habits and services. Let the reader turn to that exquisite chapter, Gen. xxiv.: "And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master. . . . . . . and he made his camels kneel down without the city by a well of

water, at the time of the evening, even at the time that women go out to draw water ... and when she had done giving him to drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking; and she hasted and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels." We learn also that it was anciently the custom to deck the Camel with collars and other ornaments, a practice still prevailing: "And Gideon arose and slew Zeba and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels' necks," Judg. viii. 21....." and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks," ver. 26.

The use of the Maherry for sending messengers upon, with tidings or letters of importance, is evidently alluded to in Esther viii. 14: "So the posts that rode upon mules and camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment." The same animal is also alluded to by Jeremiah, ii. 23: "Thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways." In Job ix. 25, 26, "My days are swifter than a post, they are passed away as the swift ships." The words translated "swift ships," are by some commentators supposed rather to mean "riders on swift dromedaries." (See Engraving, No. 46.) And also in Prov. vi. 11: "So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.' The term "armed man," is said to bear rendering, "aâsh-are-rider," or "rider on the Maherry."

The allusions to the Camel in the Scriptures are so numerous, that we can do little more than refer to them generally. They will force themselves abundantly on the mind of our reader conversant with the sacred writings, and prove how little the customs of the East are altered. The caravan of Ishmaelites carrying the merchandise and spices of India, by way of Bagdad, through Syria into Egypt and Africa, still traverses the desert; cloth and garments are still manufactured out of the camel's hair, as much in the present day as when John, with "his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins," preached repentance in the wilderness of Judea. And the swift Heirie is still used for the conveyance of messengers, as when "Mordecai sent letters by post on horseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries," Esth. viii. 10. It is still employed in desultory warfare, as when "four hundred young men who rode upon camels" escaped the sword of David, 1 Sam. xxx. 17.

Patient and docile as the Camel usually is, there are certain seasons when it becomes furious, fighting with its fellows, and often attacking even man: it is also keenly sensible of injury, and revenges it on the first opportunity. Should the man who has excited its anger appear within reach, the animal rushes upon him with irrepressible rage, and his life is sure to pay the forfeit. Nothing can be more formidable than its bite, and it strikes and kicks also with great violence. The usual mode for the unfortunate offender to take, in order that he may allay its thirst for vengeance, and escape, is to throw down his clothes where the animal may see them: rushing upon them, it tears them to pieces, and scatters them about; and having thus satisfied its fury, the whole affair is forgotten, and the man may appear with safety.

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Bruce gives a singular account of the substitution and sacrifice of a Camel, in order to appease the animosity of two contending parties. It was agreed that no one had been to blame but a Camel; the whole wrong and all the mischief done was its work. "A camel was therefore seized and brought without the town; and there, a number on both sides having met, they upbraided the camel with every thing that had been either said or done." Having heaped every opprobrious epithet on the Camel; having charged it with the violence each party had suffered from the other, and with all the threats and evil intentions each had fulminated, they thrust it through with their lances, with curses upon its head. In this account, we may perceive some traces of the scape-goat of the Jews, the prototype of a Sacrifice for the sins of the world, THE SACRIFICE upon Mount Calvary, where Christ "bore our sins in his own body on the tree;" where he endured all the penalties of a broken law, and finished his mediatorial office. To man, fallen man, no other sacrifice will avail; it is the foundation upon which alone God will accept him, his works, or his petitions; and by that sacrifice he must enter the gates of heaven, "being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God," Rom. iii. 24, 25.

In concluding our sketch of the Camel, we may notice that there is one place, and but one, in Europe, where it is reared and used as a beast of burden; namely, Pisa, in Italy. The breed appears to have been established there about the middle of the sixteenth century, and subsequently to have been increased by fresh importations from Tunis. It is, however, much degenerated, and far inferior to the race as it exists in its congenial climate, the deserts of Arabia.

A genus closely allied to the preceding_next presents itself, taking in the snow-clad and precipitous Andes, the place which the camel occupies in the level desert; it is the genus Auchenia, ILLIGER, and it contains the LLAMAS. The genus Auchenia possesses many of those characters which we have seen exhibited in the camel; namely, the great cellular development of the second stomach, the cellular apparatus of the paunch, the absence of the third or plicated stomach, with the concomitant power of enduring thirst, or rather of abstaining from water altogether; the large full overhung eye; the division and mobility of the upper lip, the fissured form of the nostrils, the slender neck and meagre limbs. The feet are, however, unfurnished with pads; the toes are armed with strong nail-like hoofs, pointed, and having an acute upper ridge; there is no trace of a dorsal hump, and we miss the two first canine-shaped molars of the lower jaw; so that the form of dentition will stand thus: incisors above, two; below, six; canine teeth, one on each side above and below; molars above, five on each side; below, four. The body is clothed with long woolly fur, necessary as a protection against the cold of the elevated region which forms the native habitat.