Bible animals : $b being a description of every living creature mentioned in the Scripture, from the ape to the coral.Wood, J. G. (John George)
Religion
Bible animals : $b being a description of every living creature mentioned in the Scripture, from the ape to the coral.
Wood, J. G. (John George)
Animals in the Bible; Nature in the Bible
It is almost invariably harnessed to carts, and always in pairs. The
mode of yoking the animals is as simple as can well be conceived. A
pole runs between them from the front of the vehicle, and the Camels
are attached to it by means of a pole which passes over their necks.
Oxen were harnessed in a similar manner. It was probably one of these
cars or chariots that was mentioned by Isaiah in his prophecy
respecting Assyria:--"And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen,
a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels" (Isa. xxi. 7). The cars
themselves are as simple as the mode of harnessing them, being almost
exactly like the ox carts which have already been described.
The weight which can be drawn by a pair of these Camels is really
considerable. On a tolerably made road a good pair of Camels are
expected to draw from twenty-six to twenty-eight hundred weight, and
to continue their labours for twenty or thirty successive days,
traversing each day an average of thirty miles. It is much slower than
the Arabian Camel, seldom going at more than two and a half miles per
hour. If, however, the vehicle to which a pair of Bactrians are
harnessed were well made, the wheels truly circular, and the axles
kept greased so as to diminish the friction, there is no doubt that
the animals could draw a still greater load to longer distances, and
with less trouble to themselves. As it is, the wheels are wretchedly
fitted, and their ungreased axles keep up a continual creaking that is
most painful to an unaccustomed ear, and totally unheeded by the
drivers.
The hair of the Bactrian Camel is long, coarse, and strong; and, like
that of the Arabian animal, is made into rough cloth. It is plucked
off by hand in the summer time, when it naturally becomes loose in
readiness for its annual renewal, and the weight of the entire crop of
hair ought to be about ten pounds. The skin is not much valued, and is
seldom used for any purpose except for making ropes, straps, and
thongs, and is not thought worth the trouble of tanning. The milk,
like that of the Arabian animal, is much used for food, but the
quantity is very trifling, barely two quarts per diem being procured
from each Camel.
There is but little that is generally interesting in the Rabbinical
writers on the Camel. They have one proverbial saying upon the
shortness of its ears. When any one makes a request that is likely to
be refused, they quote the instance of the Camel, who, it seems, was
dissatisfied with its appearance, and asked for horns to match its
long ears. The result of the request was, that it was deprived of its
ears, and got no horns.
THE HORSE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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