size as compared with those of the tame breed,[1] and the long hair on the top of the humps is shorter; (c) the male has no crest, or a very small one; (d) the colour of all wild camels is the same—a reddish sandy hue; this is rare with domestic animals; (e) the muzzle is more grizzled, and apparently shorter; (f) the ears are also shorter. In addition to these peculiarities, wild camels are generally remarkable for their medium size; huge brutes such as are sometimes seen among their domestic brethren are never found in a wild state.
Now as to the question—are the camels found by us the direct descendants of wild parents, or are they domesticated specimens which have wandered into the steppe, become wild, and multiplied in a state of nature? Each of these questions can be answered both in the affirmative and negative. In South America we find an instance of domesticated animals running wild and multiplying, as where a few horned cattle and horses have escaped from the Spanish colonies and increased on the free pasture-lands into great herds. A similar instance, on a smaller scale, attracted my attention in Ordos, where, after the Dungan insurrection, in the course of some two
- ↑ The flesh of an eleven-year-old camel obtained for us from Tarim had not been removed, so that we could easily take the measurement. The result was that the humps of this full-grown male were only seven inches high, whilst those of domestic camels not unfrequently measure 1½ ft., and even more.
