Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 December 1893 — FLEETS OF THE DESERT. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FLEETS OF THE DESERT.

Means of Commercial Intercourse in As a and Africa. If the camel is the ship of the de,v ert, the caravan is its fleet and th camel drivers are its navigators Camels, on account of their powers ol endurance, are the means of commercial intercourse in many parts of Asia and Africa, and have been so used from the earliest period. A caravan is merely an organized company of travelers formed for the purpose of mutual protection. All caravans are under the command of a chief, and the members are subjected to discipline. Formerly caravans were fre-

quently plundered by organized bands of robbers and desert dwellers, and even yet tribute is often laid by wandering Bedouins upon caravans passing through the African desert. Drivers are usually selected from men remarkable for their endurance, hardihood, and courage. At present In Africa Bedouins monopolize the business, being naturally fitted for it owing to their wild, roving lives in the desert*

A CAMEL DRIVER.