Page 337 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

298 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [CH.

unite them in single file by fastening the
head of one to the tail of his predecessor.
Towards evening they are called in for their

evening meal, and placed in a kneeling
posture round the baggage. They do not

browse after dark, and seldom attempt to
rise, bat continue to chew the cud through­

out the greater part of the night. If left
to themselves they usually plant their hind

quarters to the wind. The male, as well as
the female, voids its urine backwards, and,
as the ground there becomes wet and uncom­

fortable, they continue slowly, without chang­
ing their recumbent position, to move them­

selves forward.
Authorities differ as to the period the camel

can endure thirst. Buffon mentions five days
as an extraordinary instance; Tavernier, a

good authority, nine ; but it appears that ca­
mels, like several other ruminating animals,

when fed on succulent herbage, do not require
water; and a friend, who has had ample op­

portunities of judging, assures me that he
once travelled from Baghdad to Damascus, a
journey of twenty-five days, without the ca­

mels once drinking—a sufficiency of moisture