First part of survey of feral livestock in Australia; p.90-91; Notes gradual use of Aborigines as temporary replacements for Afghan drivers, growth of Aboriginal use of camels for personal transport; p.98-102; Details of Aboriginal use of camels, ease of handling, tourist industry, area of distribution shown in map (Alice Springs - Oodnadatta - Musgrave Park - Mount Doreen), list of localities in table.
Between 1870 and 1920 as many as 2000 cameleers and 20,000 camels arrived in Australia from Afghanistan and northern India. Australia's Muslim Cameleers is a rich pictorial history of these men, their way of life and the vital role they played in pioneering transport and communication routes across outback Australia's vast expanses. Many of the images and artefacts in this fascinating account are published here for the first time, and this new edition contains additions to the biographical listing of more than 1200 cameleers.
A camel named Bell Sing is transported from mountains of the Northwest Frontier (modern day Pakistan and Aftghanistan) to Australia to be used as a pack animal by an expedition attempting to cross the continent from south to north for the first time. The humans in this expedition - nineteenth-century explorers Burke and Wills - seem determined to succeed but Bell Sing has his doubts about their competence. Camel Handler Dost Mahomet and soldier John King are also starting to wonder who, if any one, will survive. Suggested level: primary, intermediate, junior secondary.
Presents the story of an Australian woman who set off to cross the outback, accompanied only by 4 camels and a dog. Photo CD contains photographs and narration. Apple CD contains an interactive program for the user to join the trip.
A distinct symbol of the desert and the Middle East, the camel was once unkindly described as “half snake, half folding bedstead.” But in the eyes of many the camel is a creature of great beauty. This is most evident in the Arab world, where the camel has played a central role in the historical development of Arabic society—where an elaborate vocabulary and extensive literature have been devoted to it. In Camel, Robert Irwin explores why the camel has fascinated so many cultures, including those cultivated in locales where camels are not indigenous. Here, he traces the history of the camel from its origins millions of years ago to the present day, discussing such matters of contemporary concern as the plight of camel herders in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region, the alarming increase in the population of feral camels in Australia, and the endangered status of the wild Bactrian in Mongolia and China. Throughout history, the camel has been appreciated worldwide for its practicality, resilience, and legendary abilities of survival. As a result it has been featured in the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Poussin, Tiepolo, Flaubert, Kipling, and Rose Macaulay, among others. From East to West, Irwin’s Camel is the first survey of its kind to examine the animal’s role in society and history throughout the world. Not just for camel aficionados, this highly illustrated book, containing over 100 informative and unusual images, is sure to entertain and inform anyone interested in this fascinating and exotic animal.
According to myth, the camel was created by Lord Shiva at the behest of his consort Parvati. Parvati shaped a strange five-legged animal from clay and asked Shiva to blow life into it. At first Shiva refused, saying that the misshapen animal will not fare well in the world, but later gave in. He folded the animal's fifth leg over its back giving it a hump, and commanded it to get up, "uth." That is how the animal got its name. The camel then needed someone to look after it, so Shiva rolled off a bit of skin and dust from his arm and made out of this the first Raika. Historically, the Raika of Rajasthan have had a unique and enduring relationship with camels. Their entire existence revolves around looking after the needs of these animals which, in turn, provide them with sustenance, wealth and companionship. When German veterinarian, Ilse Kohler-Rollefson, arrives in Rajasthan in 1991, she is Immediately enthralled by the Raikas' intimate relationship with their animals but also confronted with their existential problems. This is the story of the quest that follows to save a globally unique and humane animal culture and find a place for the camel in rapidly changing India. It is a journey that is often exasperating, sometimes funny, but keeps revealing unexpected layers of rural Rajasthani mores. A travelogue of a sort, this book takes us deeply into the diverse cultures that make Rajasthan such a fascinating place.
Camelman Dreaming Australia's Last Great Camel Expedition Camelman Dreaming is the true story of a dream that took fifteen years in total to complete. The Darwin to Melbourne Thank You Camel Expedition 2008-2009 resulted in over $30,000 raised for the Children First Foundation along with national and world wide awareness of the Foundations goals of saving and changing children's lives in need of specialist medical procedures. Russell Osborne, the creator of the Darwin to Melbourne Thank You Camel Expedition 2008-2009, had been a lecturer in English on the Gold Coast of Australia when in an instant, he had developed a self-driven purpose to walk the continent of Australia with a herd of camels for a children's charity after a bout of depression following the death of his mother. Not knowing a single thing about camels, camel expedition work, the deserts of Australia, navigation and how to organize a transcontinental crossing through some of the harshest and most isolated desert regions on the planet, he set his goals with unwavering determination to 'Get the Job Done.' The camel expedition arrived in Melbourne exactly the same time as the successful separation operation of conjoined twins, Trishna and Krishna, from Bangladesh, whom the founder of the Children First Foundation, Moira Kelly AO, had arranged for the twins operation at the Royal Children's Hospital. This book is Russell Osborne's personal account of the thirteen years of preparation and the two years of walking across the continent of Australia to achieve the dream.
Set in South Australia, 1884; this is the story of three Afghan cameleers as they go about delivering supplies along the Birdsville Track. Follow Nak, Shir and Abdul on an adventure across outback Australia, where their pasts catch up to them in many ways. Individual feelings are tested to the limit, insecurities are measured by fear, and desire is outweighed by need. Angry and forgiving, tired and alive, eager and pessimistic. They fight against the conditions, against the hate, and against their pasts. It is a work of fiction, based on the people of the times, where prejudice is very much alive, many Afghans being treated poorly, not just for the colour of their skin, or their religious belief, but because of the expertise that the Afghan cameleers offer the Australian outback, taking work from many Australians. This story offers an in-depth look at the life of cameleers and the issues surrounding camel strings, shedding a great amount of light on the subject of camels in the outback, opening the eyes of the reader as to the great work that camel strings performed during this time of expansion. Camels were able to out-work bullock teams and horses due to their abilities to adjust to a harsh land, and the cameleers were of no exception.
Perhaps only the animals can tell us what it is to be human. The souls of ten animals caught up in human conflicts over the last century tell their astonishing stories of life and death. In a trench on the Western Front a cat recalls her owner Colette's theatrical antics in Paris. In Nazi Germany a dog seeks enlightenment. A Russian tortoise once owned by the Tolstoys drifts in space during the Cold War. In the siege of Sarajevo a bear starving to death tells a fairytale. And a dolphin sent to Iraq by the US Navy writes a letter to Sylvia Plath. Exquisitely written, playful and poignant, Only the Animals is a remarkable literary achievement by this bright young writer. An animal's-eye view of humans at our brutal, violent worst and our creative, imaginative best, it asks us to find our way back to empathy not only for animals, but for other people, and to believe again in the redemptive power of reading and writing fiction.
