| Show nature stories THE CAMEL AND THE DROMEDARY copyright 1902 by elizabeth langsdorf Langs dort T was a very warm day and some I 1 ot the children had eaten salt elsh at dinner their visits to the ice water cooler in the corner were therefore go frequent as to disturb f lotions v my dears exclaimed miss madge the pretty young teacher how would i q you like to do without water for almost fa week my the children shuddered well I 1 ehnow of an animal that la i able to exist for alve or six days with out water can any one tell me its L name she continued little jackle garther a blue eyed flaxen haired boy whose father had taken him to a circus a few weeks before cried 1 I guess it the camel miss madge nodded affirmatively there was a general murmur and many who marveled at the camels unique accomplishment begged tell us about it miss madge it too tunny or the teacher put aside her clasa book or the time or every boy and girl was giving earnest attention you have all seen either a real camel or ft picture ot one ahe began interrogatively rogat ively they had two in the circus parade which passed the school house three weeks ago do you remember them oh yest their backs were covered with red and gold a little girl piped up and a brown man dressed in white alpon a upon the back 0 each one another volunteered and what tunny hats they had just white muslin twisted about their heads not jackle gartner rather hotly contradicted rhems turbans that they wear on their heads dear me miss madea exclaimed kindly ignoring the grammatical mis lake which she saw that the little boy DHO realized you seem to know all about them can you tell us the name of the arabs home there was a chorus Arab lal A little boy pointed out that country on the map now who will tell us what kind of roads they have in arabia this quest loni troubled the class A little fellow ventured to say why its mostly sandy deserts they cant have very good roads because the sand blows about BO much A little girl who had spent the previous summer at the seashore chimed in horses have to go slow on sand and its hard for folks to walk on just so miss maago assented and a desert where there Is nothing but sand la much worse to make long journeys the arabs have the camala which they drive in great companies called caravans the camera lone foot la tw foed and hla weight spreads it out tolt the ground he can take immense strides but doea not cover more than three allea an hour although the dromedary the one humped camel hakea a speed 0 en mites an hour the dromedary Is therefore used for B and the camel for freight carriage the animal has a series of three pouches inside its body these are for the accommodation of food and drink and before starting on a lone trip the camel fills them up A series of cells on 0 f the pouches may be filled with drink to the extent 0 five or six quarts BO that a good camel or dromedary can travel or alvo or six days without partaking of any other nourishment than the rough brambles of the desert the camel belongs to the same family aa the domestic cow it Is a ruminant that Is it swallows its food and then brings it up into its mouth to chew it at its leisure athla Is called chewing the cud the arabs use the milk of the camel for food and from its hair they make thread and clothing in cases of need they even eat its flesh it Is a very useful animal jn its part of the world for all it la so homely and clumsy and now I 1 want you to write down all you have learned about camels and drome daries in a trice every boy and fairl was busy with pencil and paper |
