132 THE CAMEL. 



portion that the hippogriff is better than either ; 

 but excepting the space between Cairo and Suez, 

 you will not find many roods of such road in the 

 Deserts of Libya, nor yet in Araby the Stony, or 

 even the Blest. In fact, the great Macadam, the 

 colossus of Roads, does not appear as yet to 

 have visited the greater or the lesser Peninsula, 

 which therefore remain much in the same con- 

 dition that man was before 'the social compact,' 

 namely, in a state of nature." 



Tavernier observes, that the quick amble of 

 the dromedary is easier than his walk, and Berg- 

 mann makes a similar remark. Burckhardt,^ 

 speaking of the fine dromedaries of the upper 

 Nile, says they are unequalled for ease to the 

 rider when allowed to take their own pace, an 

 amble of five, or five and a half miles the hour, 

 and the Arabs apply to them a proverbial ex- 

 pression, " his gait is so soft that you may drink 

 a cup of coffee while you ride him." A day's 

 journey of fifty or sixty miles at this pace is an 

 easy achievement. At much more rapid rates, 

 however, the motion becomes again intolerably 

 violent, and an inexperienced rider finds it al- 

 most impossible to cling to the saddle, or even 

 to catch his breath, though at the ordinary speed 

 the seat is more secure than on horseback. 



1 Bedouins, 263. 



