Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/199

 is never put on a beast which carries with ease 4 cwts. of tea. Laden camels average twenty-eight miles a day, a rate of progress which can be kept up for a month. After ten days or a fortnight's rest the caravan is ready for another journey; working in this way all through the winter, i.e. for six or seven months. At the end of that period the camels grow very thin, and are given their liberty for the whole summer; this holiday and the run of the steppe restores their strength, but without it they would not last more than a year. The reason of our losing so many was the necessity for driving them continuously without ever resting them.

In March they begin shedding their coats, and at the end of June the hair has entirely disappeared, leaving the skin quite bare; at such times they are susceptible to cold, rain, and every change of weather; they are weak, and a small load soon galls their backs; but before long a fine, short, mouse-like hair begins to cover their whole bodies, and by the end of September the new coat is fully grown. The males, especially the stallions, then look their best, with long manes and tufts of hair underneath the neck, and below the knees of the fore legs.

On a winter journey the camels are hardly ever unsaddled ; but on arriving at the halting place are at once let loose to graze. In summer and hot weather the saddles must be removed every day, yet with every care and precaution sore backs cannot be always avoided. Nothing will induce an experienced Mongol to undertake a journey on