AIG-ZAGS T TN Z0O0. 251
so often as he did at first—chicfiy because of that picee of jewellery in his nose. That has made a very peaccabic dromedary of ‘Tom, for when he takes a walk the keeper snaps one end of a neat little picce of chain upon the ring, and keeps the other in his hand. And Tom will do anything rather than have his nose pulled.
At a time when Tom 1s n the scclusion of the stable—perhaps invisible—approach the ruls with an air of having a biscuit about you. Promptly Tom will cmerge from his lair, with a startling stride and a disconcerting reach of neck.
Make no further sign of biscuit. Then, il Sclf be by, you shall find that he has mmparted to Tom a certain polish of manner surprising - a camel. Selt will o tell Tom te bheg, and Tom will beg immediately; the supplica- tion consisting in standing on three legs and throwing the rmight fore-foot negli- cently across the left knee. Thereat you probably give him a biscuit. But if you remain obdurate, or have come biscuitless,
Tom's politeness evaporates at once. He turns his back upon his visitor with a certain studied rudeness of manner a contume- ltous nosc-in-air tail-turning - - and stalks disgustedly back to his boudor.
Any other camel will do this, and 1t 1s natural. - Why do thesc human creatures come to the rails unprovided with biscuits 2 What arc they for? So the camel turns up his nosc—and a camel can do this: watch him— and flounces away.
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Now, 1 like Bob, and T Tike Rose, so far as onc may 2 like a camel ; and 1 like Tom, so far as "Tom will allow J) it. But that doesn’t in the lcast reconcile me to the juventle natural history book. You can’'t conscien- . tiously look Bob or Tom in the face and call him o
a ship of the desert, or a ship of any kind. You might possibly manage to work up a small fit of sca-sickness if you rode a Heirie —the swiftest of the dromedaries at his hest pace @ because at a pinch the Heirie can make ten miles an hour, shaking his unfortunate rider’s joits loose, cven cnougn he be swathed in many swaddlings. But ncither Bob nor Tom is a Heirie. Tom 1s a tarly quick dromedary, but Bob, if he will pardon my saving so, is only an ordinary