Camels are strange animals, for although they are strong and have wonderful powers of endurance, they are surly, intractable, and even more obstinate than mules. Occasionally a camel will consider that he is overloaded, and lying down will snarl at his driver and refuse to move. Blows and commands are useless in such a case, but if the driver pretends to remove something from the burden the animal is often completely deceived, and thinking that he has outwitted his master and gained a victory, will rise to his feet and start off contentedly on the journey. One of the greatest dangers of desert travel is lack of water, for wells are very few and far apart. Camels are particularly suited to these conditions, as they can live for several days without drinking, and when no water is forthcoming, will plod patiently on and on, until their strength is exhausted and they fall down beneath their heavy loads. [Illustration: CAMEL WITH BRIDAL BOWER.] It will be noticed in a caravan that some of the camels carry extraordinary fan-shaped palanquins on their backs. These contain the Arab ladies, whose religion obliges them to be veiled, and who can thus travel securely screened from sight. In the deserts of Asia the women ride in a much more airy and comfortable fashion, being provided with cushioned panniers slung on either side of the camel's back and sheltered by a light awning. On the occasion of a wedding in the Nile Delta district, the bride is carried on a camel in a curious erection shaped like a Red Indian wigwam and decorated with a large tuft of palm-leaves. From the deserts we go to the great tropical forests, and there, although there is plenty of water and shelter from the fierce rays of the sun, travellers have to encounter new difficulties, new hardships, and new dangers. [Illustration: CARRIERS IN THE FOREST.] Those of us who have seen only woods in our own islands can hardly imagine what one of the great forests of Central Africa, America, or Asia is like, with its huge trees, strange plants, and hot, steamy atmosphere, dank with the smell of rotting vegetation and stagnant water, or heavy with the overpowering fragrance of some tropical blossom. It is almost dark, for the foliage is dense, and the trees are, moreover, hung with matted curtains of creepers, while below is a tangled undergrowth, so tall and thick that pathways have to be cut through it inch by inch. [Illustration: PALANQUIN FOR ARAB WOMEN.] The travellers must needs walk single file through these narrow tracks, and they must be always armed and on their guard against the dangerous wild animals that live in those weird, gloomy jungles. Leopards, fierce gorillas, and rhinoceros, all have their homes in those dark thickets, and there are besides great herds of elephants that if alarmed will charge through the forest and trample the intruders underfoot.