THE CAMEL GOES WEST

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 23, 10 November 1944, Page 5

THE CAMEL GOES WEST

MASCOT OF RUSSIAN DIVISION A camel, mascot of a sportive Russian is shading the Red Army's march wliich j its masters fondly will end in ■ states an English exchange. It. accompanied its owners from, the far interior of the Russian steppes, and ambition at the, outset soared no higher than the declared attempt to permit it to drink of the waters of the Beresina, then almost incredibly far away. That proud project achieved, the petted beast > succeeding to the time-honoured role of Felix the. keeps on. walking—west war d-ho! We must, ■wish this camel a happier experience than attended the first recorded appearance of camels in Europe. These } we are told by Herodotus ? "the Father of History, f " were, the camels that carried the provisions of the mighty army of Xerxes for the ihvasion of Greece. They were set upon and devoured' by lions, which spared both men ami the other animals. "I marvel," said the old historian, "what may have been the cause which compelled the lions to leave the other animals and attack the/ camels, when they had never seen* the beast before nor had any ex-* perie.nce of it." The Russian camel now on the march may be exposed to for i& not the tiger wounde.d in his lair? But at least there will be no lions in its path deciding that first impressions arc best and camel a dinnertime. luxury/