THE SHIP OF THE DESERT. 



221 



modes of crossing those members that no day was suffi- 

 cient to exhaust them. The rising and kneeling of the 

 animal is hazardous at first, as his long legs double to- 

 gether like a carpenter's rule, and you are thrown back- 

 ward and then forward, and then backward again ; but 

 the trick is soon learned. The soreness and fatigue of 

 w r hich many travelers complain I never felt, and I attrib- 

 ute much of it to the Frank dress. I rode from eight 

 to ten hours a day, read, and even dreamed in the saddle, 

 and was at night as fresh and unwearied as when I mount- 

 ed in the morning. 



Camels and Arabs. 



14. "My caravan was accompanied by four Arabs. 

 They owned the camels, which they urged along with a 

 shrill, barbaric song, the burden of which was, ' O Proph- 

 et of God, help the camels and bring them safely to our 



