Page:From Kulja, across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor (1879).djvu/114

Rh or three years cows and bulls had become as wild and difficult to stalk as antelope. But with regard to the multiplying of camels which had obtained their liberty, a difficulty arises in the circumstance of there being very few males of the domesticated kind fit for the stud, and lastly, the acts of breeding and birth are for the most part performed with the assistance of man. Assuming that the latter of these difficulties may disappear when leading a free life, the other nevertheless remains, i. e. the irremediable injury produced by castration. Few chances, therefore, remain of camels capable of breeding escaping; one exception must, however, be made in the case of interbreeding of wild male with female domesticated camels.

On the other hand, the localities fit for human habitation in the basin of Lob-nor are particularly ill-suited for camels, owing to the damp climate, insects, and bad food. Hence the population could hardly at any time have kept many, and now the Lob-nortsi keep none at all.

Turning to the other proposition, i. e. that the wild camel of the present day is directly descended from wild ancestors, more weighty evidence may, I think, be adduced in support of this theory. It