ing a lot of
camels for use in the western states several years ago, about the time
when your grandfather was a boy.

But the people who can best manage such large animals as elephants and
camels are the people who are born in the same countries as those
animals and who understand their habits. And unluckily, when the
camels were brought into America, nobody thought of bringing men also
from those countries to manage the camels. So nobody seemed to know
how to use these animals, and after a time they were turned loose in
Arizona. The camels went into the deserts and forests there, and
became quite wild, and to-day there are some of them in Arizona.

Now, do you not think it would be a good idea to get a few men from
those countries and learn from them how to manage camels? Then the
camels of Arizona also could be used in crossing the deserts there,
where there are no railroads.

Besides being the only animal that can cross the desert, the camel is
different from any other four-legged animal even in the way he walks.

You have seen how a horse walks? When his left foreleg is lifted off
the ground, his right hind leg is also lifted off the ground; then in
the next step, when his right foreleg is lifted off the ground, his
left hind leg is also lifted off the ground. That means that the two
legs which move at the same time are those placed at the _opposite
corners_ of his body. But when a camel walks, he lifts the two legs
on the _same side_ of his body at the same time. And when he takes the
next step, he lifts the two legs on the other side of his body.

Now, my dear, I have told you many things about the camel which are
different from anything in any other animal. So, before I close this
chapter, I want you to remember these things about the camel:

1. His _foot_ is _padded_ in such a way that he can walk or run on
sand.

2. He can _close_ his _nostrils_ to keep out the sand in a storm.

3. His _thick_ and bushy _eyebrows_ and _thick eyelashes_ keep the
glare of the sun from his eyes.

4. His stomach has many _cells_ like bottles, in which he can _store
up water_.

5. He can _store up food_ in his _hump_.

6. He walks by moving both legs on the _same side_ of his body at the
same time.

In another chapter I shall tell you about an animal that can also do
one of these things: he can _store up food_ in his body, though in a
different way. That animal is the _bear_. He sleeps through the whole
winter, and h