THE CAMEL AND IHE SIMOOM. 



521 



know," thundered the Pasha, " that your camel ought to carry only 

 seven hundred pounds? By the beard of the Prophet, and by the 

 Ahnighty who has created man and beast, I will show you what it is to 

 torture an animal! Give him five hundred blows." The driver was 

 duly bastinadoed. "Now go!" said the judge; "it your camel ever 

 brings a complaint again, it will be worse tor you." 



The Camel is subject to many diseases, especially in the low latitudes. 

 In the Soudan, a ffy is said to be very destructive. Most camels, how- 

 ever, die in their vocation. The simoom, or hot wind of the desert, is 

 their deadliest foe. They scent the poisonous blast hours before the 

 storm bursts. They become alarmed and anxious long before the swel- 

 tering heat which heralds the tempest is felt by man, and hurry forward 

 at full speed. When the tempest breaks, no inducements can urge them 

 onward ; they lie down with their heads stretched out on the ground to 

 leeward. They undoubtedly suffer as much as their riders, who, after 

 the simoom has passed, feel as if every limb was broken, and who expe- 

 rience that feeling of weariness which usually is felt only after long sick- 

 ness. When the camels are loaded, after the hot blast has passed, they 

 show in every step what torments they feel. Their thirst increases, their 

 weakness becomes more pronounced as they advance. A Camel sud- 

 denly falls ; no words, no lashes move him to rise. The Arab, with tears 

 in his eyes, leaves him to his fate ; next morning the Camel is dead ; 

 before noon comes, the vultures are circling round the carcass, and 

 before evening, the hyaena cannot find enough to satisfy its hunger. 



Independently of its value as a beast of burden, the Camel is most 

 precious to its owners, as it supplies them with food and clothing. The 

 milk mixed with meal is a favorite dish among the children of the desert, 

 and is sometimes purposely kept until it is sour, in which state it is very 

 grateful to the Arab palate, but especially nauseous to that of a Euro- 

 pean. The Arabs think that any man is sadly devoid of taste who pre- 

 fers the sweet new milk to that which has been mellowed by time. A 

 kind of very rancid butter is churned from the cream by a remarkably 

 simple process, consisting of pouring the cream into a goat-skin sack, 

 and shaking it constantly until the butter is formed. The ilesh of the 

 Camel is seldom eaten, probably because the animal is too valuable to be 

 killed merely for the sake of being eaten. Sometimes, however, in a season 

 of great festivity, a rich Arab will slay one of his camels, and calling all 

 his friends and relations to the banquet, they hold high festival upon the 

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