NOTE-BOOK OF A NATURALIST. 107 



the connexion of the fifth and the sixth dorsal vertebrae : 



there the pressure of the burdens had evidently been 



most severe ; and the summit of the hump was at the 



sixth. Thus was the back strengthened for the burden. 



Dr. Adam suggests, that it is not improbable that the 



symmetry of the swift dromedaries will be found to be 



much more complete than that of the baggage-camel. 



The load for the latter is variously stated ; some make it 



six, some seven, and others above eight hundred pounds : 



nay, Sandys says that he will carry a thousand. The 



swiftness of the dromedary,* el heirie, or, as most 



travellers call it, maherry, may be compared with that of 



the high-mettled racer, with more endurance. ' When 



thou shalt meet a heirie, and say to the rider Salem 



Aleik, ere he shall have answered thee Aleik Salem, he 



will be afar off, and nearly out of sight, for his fleetness 



is like the wind." A sahayee, said to be the swiftest of 



this breed, is good for six hundred and thirty miles 



(thirty-five days of caravan-travelling) in five days. 



Seven or eight miles an hour, for nine or ten hours a-day, 



is stated to be a common performance ; and the lamented 



Captain Lyon, whose accuracy was strict, relates that a 



Northern African Arabian maherry's long trot, at the 



rate of nine miles an hour, will endure for many hours 



together. 



Cupid has been pictured bestriding the lion and the 

 dolphin, and Darwin has made him inspire plants with 

 love ; but when he takes the shape of an Arabian lover, 

 and mounts his dromedary, nothing seems impossible — 

 space and time are annihilated. It is on record that a 

 young man was passionately fond of a young girl — lovely, 

 of course, — and who on her part had a devouring passion 

 for oranges. None were to be had for love or money at 

 Mogadore, and no fruit worthy of the damsel could be 



* KafxrjXos 8poiias — Camelos dromas, running or swift camel. 



