mels must be hired, carts purchased, baggage packed in
convenient parcels, and numerous odds and ends provided against
contingencies. Of course, there is generally something forgotten, even
after careful attention to present and prospective wants.

But we are off at last. The start consumes the greater part of a day,
as it is best to have nothing done carelessly at the outset. The heavy
baggage is loaded upon the camels, the animals lying down and
patiently waiting while their cargoes are stowed. Pieces of felt cloth
are packed between and around their humps, to prevent injury from the
cords that sustain the bundles. The drivers display much ingenuity in
arranging the loads so that they shall be easily balanced, and the
sides of the beasts as little injured as possible. Spite of
precautions, the camels get ugly sores in their sides and backs, which
grow steadily worse by use. Occasionally their hoofs crack and fill
with sand, and when this occurs, their owner has no alternative but to
rest them a month or two, or risk losing their services altogether.
The principal travel over the desert is in the cold season. In the
autumn, the camels are fat, and their humps appear round and hard.
They are then steadily worked until spring, and very often get very
little to eat. As the camel grows thin, his humps fall to one side,
and the animal assumes a woe-begone appearance. In the spring, his
hair falls off; his naked skin wrinkles like a wet glove, and he
becomes anything but an attractive object.

[Illustration: IN GOOD CONDITION.]

As a beast of burden, the camel is better than for purposes of draft.
He can carry from six hundred to eight hundred pounds, if the load be
properly placed on his back; but when he draws a cart the weight must
be greatly diminished. In crossing Mongolia, heavy baggage is carried
on camels, but every traveler takes a cart for riding purposes, and
alternates between it and his saddle horse. The cart is a sort of
dog-house on two wheels; its frame is of wood, and has a covering of
felt cloth, thick enough to ward off a light fall of rain, and
embarrass a heavy one. It is barely high enough to allow a man to sit
erect, but not sufficiently long to enable him to lie at full length.
The body rests directly upon the axle, so that the passenger gets the
full benefit of every jolt. The camel walks between the shafts, and
his great body is the chief feature of the scenery when one looks
ahead. The harness g