Major Henry C. Wayne, assigned to procure…
February 1856 CE
After arriving in the Mediterranean Sea, Wayne and Porter begin procuring camels.
Stops include Goletta (Tunisia), Malta, Greece, Turkey, and Egypt.
They acquire thirty-three animals (nineteen females and fourteen males), including two Bactrian, twenty-nine dromedary, one dromedary calf, and one booghdee (or Tülu, a cross between a male Bactrian and a female dromedary).
The two officers also acquire pack saddles and covers, being certain that proper saddles cannot be purchased in the United States.
Wayne and Porter hire five camel drivers, some Arab and some Turkish, and on February 15, 1856, USS Supply sets sail for Texas.
Porter establishes strict rules for the care, watering, and feeding of the animals in his charge; no experiments will be conducted regarding how long a camel could survive without water.
During the crossing, one male camel will die, but two calves will be born and survive the trip.
