G'day, I don't spend much time in the regions overrun by camels, but they were first imported for explorers, hoping to be the first to cross a very wide ... and dry ... continent. The Yanks might consider that we are talking about roughly the same south - north and West - East distances as the 48 contiguous states of America. An old friend, who I would regard as among the best Aussie raconteurs, is descended from one of the "Afghans" (in his case, actually a Lebanese) who then came out with camel teams to haul heavy loads into the newly opened interior regions, during the the latter part of the 19th century. A few years back, Patricia and I visited the Northern Territory (the top half of the middle ...) and we spent some time at Kings Canyon (Wakkertie, in local language ... ?) National Park. Rangers told me of the long drive (in the 2-ton Esky ... actually a refrigerated truck!) to top up camp supplies. They also said that the feral camels were a real problem ... invading the National Park and displacing native wildlife. One of their number had studied up on butchering ... and their meat ration is now augmented by steaks from camels, shot just outside Park boundaries ... and sliced up in their cool room with the electric meat saw they all paid for! However, this isn't about the hypothetical subjects of the headlines from the daily rags! Regard(les)s, Bob
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