Sometimes a female Camel gives birth to a colt on the journey. In such a case, a brief pause is made, and then the train proceeds on its journey, the owner of the Camel carrying the young one in his arms until the evening halt. He then gives it to its mother, and on the following day it is able to follow her without further assistance. The young Camels are almost pretty, their hair being paler than that of the adult animal, and their limbs more slender. Although the young Camel is better-looking than its parents, it is not one whit more playful. Unlike almost all other animals, the Camel seems to have no idea of play, and even the young Camel of a month or two old follows its mother with the same steady, regular pace which she herself maintains. In spite of all the kindness with which a driver treats his Camels, he can at times be exceedingly cruel to them, persisting in over-loading and over-driving them, and then, if a Camel fall exhausted, removing its load, and distributing it among the other Camels. As soon as this is done, he gives the signal to proceed, and goes on his way, abandoning the wretched animal to its fate--_i.e._ to thirst and the vultures. He will not even have the humanity to kill it, but simply leaves it on the ground, muttering that it is "his fate!" THE CAMEL. CHAPTER II. The Camel and its master--Occasional fury of the animal--A boy killed by a Camel--Another instance of an infuriated Camel--Theory respecting the Arab and his Camel--Apparent stupidity of the Camel--Its hatred of a load, and mode of expressing its disapprobation--Riding a Camel through the streets--A narrow escape--Ceremony of weaning a young Camel--The Camel's favourite food--Structure of the foot and adaptation to locality--Difficulty in provisioning--Camel's hair and skin--Sal-ammoniac and Desert fuel--The Camel and the needle's eye--Straining at a gnat and swallowing a Camel. We now come to the general characteristics of the Camel. The Camels know their master well, some of them being much more affectionate than others. But they are liable to fits of strange fury, in which case even their own masters are not safe from them. They are also of a revengeful nature, and have an unpleasant faculty of treasuring up an injury until they can find a time of repaying it. Signor Pierotti gives a curious example of this trait of character. As he was going to the Jordan, he found a dead Camel lying on the roadside, the head nearly separated from the body. On inquiry he found that the animal had a master who ill-treated it, and had several times tried to bite him. One evening, after the Camels had been unloaded, the drivers lay down to sleep as usual.