The Dromedary. 171 



attached, " was sent with Camels to a distant post across 

 the desert. The Camel, slow as he generally is in his 

 actions, lifts up his hind legs very briskly at the instant 

 the rider is in the saddle ; the man is thus thrown for- 

 ward ; a similar movement of the fore legs throws him 

 backward ; each motion is repeated ; and it is not till the 

 fourth movement, when the Dromedary is fairly on his 

 feet, that the rider can recover his balance. None of us 

 could resist the first impulse, and thus nobody could laugh 

 at his companions." Macfarlane, in his work on Con- 

 stantinople, tells us that upon his first Camel adventure 

 he was so unprepared for the probable effect of the crea- 

 ture's ris.ing behind, that he was thrown over his head, 

 to the infinite amusement of the Turks, who laughed 

 heartily at his inexperience. 



Though the name of Dromedary is very generally 

 applied to all the one-humped camels, both in common 

 parlance and books on Natural History, it is said that 

 the true Dromedary (El Herie) is merely a peculiarly 

 swift camel. The name of Dromedary, indeed, appears 

 to be applied in the East to all the higher bred camels, 

 the genealogy of which is kept by the Arabs as carefully 

 as that of their horses. 



Possessing strength and activity surpassing that of 

 most beasts of burthen, docile, patient of hunger and 

 thirst, and contented with small quantities of the coarsest 

 provender, the camel is one of the most valuable gifts of 

 Providence. There is nothing, however, in the exterior 

 appearance of the animal to indicate the existence of any 

 of its excellent qualities. In form and proportions it is 

 very opposite to our usual ideas of perfection and beauty. 

 A stout body, having the back disfigured by a great 

 hump ; limbs long, slender, and seemingly too weak to 

 support the trunk; a long, thin, crooked neck, sur- 

 mounted by a heavily-proportioned head, are all ill-suited 

 to produce favourable impressions. Nevertheless, there 

 is no creature more excellently adapted to its situation, 

 nor is there one in which more of creative wisdom is 

 displayed in the peculiarities of its organization. To 

 the Arabs, and other wanderers of the desert, the Camel 

 is at once wealth, subsistence, and protection. 



