Page:From Kulja, across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor (1879).djvu/111

92 combatants. An old male, when he has overpowered a younger and weaker antagonist, will crush his skull between his teeth.

Females bear once in three years, the period of gestation being rather over the year; the young camels are born, never more than one at a time, early in spring, i.e. in March. They are much attached to their dams. Should one of these latter be killed, the young camel takes to flight, returning, however, again later to the same spot. When caught young, wild camels are easily tamed and taught to carry a pack.

Their voice, very rarely heard, is a deep, lowing noise; in this way the dams call their young; males, even during the rutting season, utter no sound, but find their consorts by scent.

We were unable to learn the duration of a camel's life; some are known to live to a great age. Our hunter-guide once chanced to kill a he-camel, with teeth completely worn down, notwithstanding which the animal was in good condition.

The Lob-nortsi, who hunt the wild camel in summer and autumn, never go expressly in search of it, but kill them whenever they get the chance.

This sport is generally very difficult, and only three or four hunters in the whole district of Lob-nor engage in it. The ordinary mode of killing camels is by lying in wait for them at the watering-places, not by following on their fresh tracks. The hunters I sent out in search of this