THE CAKAVAN. 151 



profited nothing by them, and do profess a re- 

 spectful ignorance of the whole subject to this 

 day, not knowing the difference between a gore 

 and a gusset. Nathless, I comfort myself with 

 the consideration, that feminine ingenuity pass- 

 eth all masculine imagination, and I do in no- 

 wise doubt, that these few hints, with a repeti- 

 tion of a former suggestion, that you, madam, 

 may find it convenient to ride a chevcmchons, 

 will enable you to devise a garb at once grace- 

 ful, durable, and commodious, beyond anything 

 which the subtlest man-milliner could compose. 



" But the dragoman is sounding ' boot and 

 saddle,' after his fashion, our camels are laden, 

 our dromedaries are waiting, not indeed champ- 

 ing the bit and pawing the ground like fiery 

 coursers, but with half-shut eye lazily ' chewing 

 the cud of sweet and bitter fancy.' Let us 

 mount our ungainly steeds and away to the 

 desert. 



" The camel, as every body knows, kneels to 

 receive his load and his rider, and the burden he 

 can rise with is said to be the measure of what 

 he is able to carry. The Bedouins often climb 

 to the saddle, without bringing the camel to his 

 knees or even stopping him, by putting one foot 

 on the callus of the knee, and so clambering up 

 by the neck and shoulder, but I recommend no 

 such experiments to you. You will find mount- 



