Round A Camp-Fire One Will Hear Tales Of Africa, New
Guinea, New Zealand, Australia, America From Alaska To The
Horn,
Madagascar, and other strange countries that would be a mine of
information to a writer of books of adventure
- Tales told in the main with
truth and accuracy, and in the quiet, unostentatious manner of the
habitual digger to whom poverty, riches, and hardships come all in their
turn as a matter of course.
Having chosen my mates, the next thing to be done was to procure beasts of
burden. Of numerous camels submitted for inspection I took three, which
were subsequently christened "Czar," "Satan," and "Misery" respectively;
the first from his noble and king-like mien, the second from his wild and
exceedingly unpleasant habit of kicking and striking - habits due not to
vice but to the nervousness of youth - and the third from his plaintive
remonstrances and sad-eyed looks of reproach as his saddle and load were
placed on his back.
The price of a good pack-camel then varied from 60 pounds to 80
pounds - and such prices as 100 pounds to 130 pounds were given for
first-class riding-camels. For South Australian-bred camels, the
descendants of stock originally imported from India by Sir Thomas Elder
some thirty years ago, a higher price was asked than for those brought
into the Colony direct from Kurrachi; and rightly, for there can be no
doubt but that in size, strength, and endurance, the camel of Australian
birth is far ahead of his old-world cousin.
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