. Our country: West. alry,at the same time uttering their peculiar guttural sound, which,in sixty-five different keys, made the most unearthly din. The effect on the horses of the command was electrical,and in the highest sense ludicrous. Every one seemedpossessed with the insane desire to walk on his hind legs andspar the air with his forefeet. Many men were thrown, whilewith others the horses, wild with terror, took the bit in theirteeth and made a clean bolt with their riders across theprairie. A more demoralized body of troopers could not havebeen found during the hottest battle of the war
. Our country: West. alry,at the same time uttering their peculiar guttural sound, which,in sixty-five different keys, made the most unearthly din. The effect on the horses of the command was electrical,and in the highest sense ludicrous. Every one seemedpossessed with the insane desire to walk on his hind legs andspar the air with his forefeet. Many men were thrown, whilewith others the horses, wild with terror, took the bit in theirteeth and made a clean bolt with their riders across theprairie. A more demoralized body of troopers could not havebeen found during the hottest battle of the war. 25^ GOVERNMENT CAMELS. Not for some time could the scattered men and horses begot together and something like order restored, and it wasseveral days before the horses and camels became reconciledto each other, but they finally got on good terms and occupiedthe same stable during our stay at the post. The camels afforded us the greatest amusement. The firstevening of our arrival Major King and I strolled down to the. The Approach of Old Frances. stable to look at the menagerie, and while in the corralwatching the feeding process Major King lighted his he had taken a whiff or two, an immense camel, ordromedary, one of the original herd, was observed comingdirectly toward us, with most solemn and stately tread, andwith eyes fixed and immovable. Old Frances, for that was the name of this beast, was a GOVERNMENT CAMELS. 255 most formidable-looking object. We stood our ground for amoment and then retired a little ; as this towering presencecontinued to advance, apparently as resistless as fate, webecame wholly demoralized, like our horses, and bolted outof the corral. A shout of laughter from one of the keepers called a were informed that we were in no danger, and thatOld Frances only wanted a smoke, which proved to be thefact. We were also told that some camels were very fond oftobacco-smoke, and would follow any one about who wassmoking. After we had found out
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