BURDEN AND FUENITURE. 115 



vice by the French in Algeria, and wherever else 

 the camel has been employed in war, and is 

 found to answer all purposes as completely as 

 the costly furniture with which we supply our 

 cavalry. Every soldier may be his own saddler, 

 and he requires no material but bagging, straw 

 or grass, a little cordage, and a few small sticks, 

 which may be found wherever there is any ar- 

 borescent vegetation, to extemporize at an hour's 

 warning the complete equipage of his beast. 



Invalids, and luxurious persons, require more 

 artificial arrangements for travelling on the 

 camel. " Ladies, both paynim and Christian, do 

 generally bestride the dromedary, after the en- 

 sample of the lords of the creation, but when 

 the delicacy, the health, or the dignity of dame 

 or seignior forbid this, Arab ingenuity hath con- 

 trived other means of transportation. The 

 simplest is the shibreei/eh, a sort of platform 

 composed of mattresses, carpets, and cushions, 

 resting on a pair of luggage chests, or other 

 scaffolding secured to the pack-saddle, and with 

 or without an awning. This may be long enough 

 to allow the traveller to sit or lie at will. The 

 next is the moosultah^ which, in its rudest form, 

 consists of a couple of frames much resembling 

 old-fashioned high-backed chairs, except that 

 they are considerably larger, and have the seat, 

 or rather flooring, at the bottom of the legs. 



