OCR Text |
Show AMERICAN CAMELSw Cccrcasins Despite tho Fact That Thoy Arc Butchered and Sold as Beef. M. F. Campbell, who has been for oomo time at tho famous Gunsight mine, near the line of southern Arizona, 6ays tho camels of the desert are increasing very rapidly, and that there are now be tween 800 and 400 of them. Thisissur prising, he says, considering tho large mmiber-tbat liave been killed and palmed palm-ed off for beef in tho past few years anc the inroads niado upon the bands by passing showmen. Mr. Campbell gav wmo interesting details of these tawny denizens of the waste places, introduced bo many years ago by Ben Butterworthi and now grown -wild. "Those hulking animals," he said, "roam mainly between the Gila and Colorado rivers, in a stretch of tho low Eagle Tail mountains and the desert adjoining. ad-joining. There is very fiuo bunch grass in that region, and the camels keep in good condition. I havo severaL times Eeen as many as eight or ten in a band, and most of them aro very large. "Different persons have been there from time to time catching them for tbs circuses. That is the sourco of supply now for all tho shows. The hunters go out in bands of half a dozen on mules, as horses would be of no account Tho camels, cumbersome as they look, run very fast, and only mules aro enduring enough in that tough country to wear them out Tho hunters stretch out, surround sur-round a band, and out of ten or a dozeD manage to cut out and stay by a couple, wearing them out aud catching them finally with lassos. Tho camels aro very wild at first, bnt speedily tame down, and the showmen con do anything they please with them. "I was for nearly two years there mining, and myself and men were furnished fur-nished with camel meat right along and thought it very good. We paid 25 cents a pound for a good deal of it, and wo thought it as good beef as we had usually eaten. Tho old prospeotors, whe had turned to peddling meat, never said a word to us, but took their pay regularly regu-larly to go away and come back again. At the last wo fouad out it was nothing but tho camel's meat Which they were famishing us. Then we began to draw the lina "If the meat sellers and circus people would let tho camels alone for awhile, they would increase much faster. The animals are interesting to see on the desert and do no harm." San Francisco Francis-co Examiner. |