Camel Tracks: A History of Exploration, Warfare and Policing in the Modern Imperial Age

by Andrew Goudie

Overview

Camels, one of creation's most remarkable animals, are celebrated through this fascinating historical study of their place in the modern imperial era. Goudie’s wide-ranging research into the exploration and use of camels reveals dramatic stories and personalities, with an impressive geographical coverage. Includes descriptions of their biology, value, and benefits, then travelers’ stories link them to their historical context. Accompanied by splendid paintings, drawings, photos, and maps - and with an extensive bibliography - this volume entertains at the same time as providing a very comprehensive historical account of these amazing beasts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781914268014
Publisher:	Society for Libyan Studies
Publication date:	03/22/2022
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Andrew Goudie has been a Professor of Geography at Oxford University and an Honorary Secretary and Vice President of the Royal Geographical Society. In 1991 he was awarded the Founders' Medal of the Royal Geographical Society and the Mungo Park medal by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. In 2002 he received a medal from the Royal Academy of Belgium and was awarded a DSc by Oxford. In 2007 he was awarded the Geological Society of America’s Farouk El-Baz Award for Desert Research. His research interests include the geomorphology of deserts, climatic change, environmental archaeology and the impact of humans on the environment. In 2008 he published ‘Wheels Across the Desert – Exploration of the Libyan Desert by Motorcar 1916-1942’.

Table of Contents

Preface viii

Chapter 1 Background 1

Biology and Evolution 1

Domestication 3

Distribution 3

History and Archaeology 4

Historical Importance of the Camel 4

Camels and Travel in Extreme Environments 7

Camels and Trade 9

Camels and Pilgrimage 11

Camels and Nomadic Societies 11

Camels and War 12

Camels in the Modern World 19

Australian Camels 19

USA Camels 20

Numbers 21

History of Research 23

Introduction 23

Count Buffon 24

George Perkins Marsh 27

Scope of the book and its main themes 28

Chapter 2 Camels and the Exploration History of North Africa 33

Introduction: The North and East African Deserts 33

Charles-Jacques Poncet and James Bruce 36

William George Browne 39

Friedrich Hornemann 41

Hugh Clapperton 45

George Francis Lyon 48

René Caillié 52

Heinrich Barth 57

Sir Samuel and Lady Baker 61

Gustav Nachtigal 65

Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs 68

Robert Murdoch Smith and Edwin Porcher 72

Alexinde Tinne 74

Henri Duveyrier 76

Oskar Lenz and Camille Douls 79

Fernand Foureau 83

James Harrison 85

René Chudeau and Conrad Kilian 88

Andre Von Dumreicher 89

W.J. Harding King 92

Charles Furlong 95

Jean Tilho 98

Hanns Vischer 101

Nowell Barnard De Lancey Forth 105

Arthur Weigall 108

George Murray 111

Angus Buchanan 113

Ahmed Hassanein 117

Ludovico Mariano Nesbitt 123

Sir Charles Dalrymple Belgrave 126

Douglas Newbold and W.B.K. Shaw 129

Francis Rodd 133

Theodore Monod 137

Chapter 3 Arabia, the Middle East and Iran 141

Introduction 141

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier 145

Joseph Pitts 148

Carsten Niebuhr 151

Johann Ludwig Burckhardt 154

James Raymond Wellsted 159

Sir Richard Burton 164

Henry Martyn Field 169

Lewis Pelly 172

William Gifford Palgrave 178

Samuel Barrett Miles 181

Anne and Wilfrid Blunt 185

Charles Montagu Doughty 190

Theodore and Mabel Bent 194

John Fryer Keene 200

Percy Cox 205

Gertrude Bell 209

'Jack' Philby 212

Bertram Thomas 216

Wilfred Thesiger 221

Chapter 4 Epilogue 229

Views on Camels 229

Camel Catastrophes 231

The Speed, Range, and Load-Carrying Capacity of Camels 232

Premature Deaths 234

Concluding Remarks 235

References and Reading 239

Index 257