114 LETTER XXI. 



always in spring, is manufactured mtojjne stuffs arnl 

 almost every article necessary for clothing, bedding, 

 and the covering of their tents. To comprehend the 

 value of the camel, in those regions where perpetual 

 drought and sterility reign, we must figure to our- 

 selves a coiintry without verdure and without water, 

 where a clear sky and burning sun above, from which 

 no friendly shade affords a shelter, parches every liv- 

 ing creature with intolerable thirst, while an immense 

 expanse of scorched sands beneath presents to the 

 eye a dreary scene of barren uniformity, in which no 

 object reminds the traveller of the existence of ani- 

 mated nature. Such are those immense deserts, which 

 the camel and the dromedary alone can traverse. \i 

 is, therefore, no wonder, that the Arab regards the 

 camel as an inestimable present from Heaven, a sacred 

 animal, without the aid of which he could not subsist 

 in those frightful deserts, which secure his indepen- 

 dence, and surround him with an impregnable ram- 

 part. 



In Turkey, Arabia, Persia, and Egypt, their whole 

 commerce is carried on by means of those useful ani- 

 mals. The camel, ri t\^se countries, furnishes the 

 most expeditious and the cheapest mode of convey- 

 ance. Merchants and travellers form themselves into 

 numerous bodies, called caravans, in order to be able 

 to protect themselves from the assaults of the formi- 

 dable banditti which infect the borders of the desert. 

 The usual rate of travelling in these caravans,. is about 

 twelve or fifteen miles per day, each camel carrying 

 about four hundred weight, although the very large 

 and strong ones can carry above twice as much. They 

 are unloaded every night, ahd'sul&red to feed at li- 

 berty. If they are in a part of the country where 

 there is pasture, they eat enough in one hour to serve. 

 them twenty -four ; but in those journeys they seldom 

 find-any pasturage, a '.id happily, delicate food is not 

 necessary to them. Thistles, nettles, furze, and all 

 those coarser vegetables, which other animals reject, 

 furnish to the camel a dainty repast. 



Ah hough the ordinary rate of travailing on those 



