Peking, Pechili province, China: a camel with its owner. Photograph by John Thomson, 1871.

A man with a very furry camel, standing in front of a brick wall with a lattice at the top. Until the advent of the railways, the camel was the main form of transport throughout north China and into Central Asia. This animal was held in high esteem among the Mongols, for it is physically adapted for traversing the sandy plains of the Gobi Desert. The camel's stomach has bladders that enable it to carry a store of fresh water, and, in like manner, its humps are furnished with a store of food in the shape of fatty matter that can be absorbed in times of need