NOTE-BOOK OF A NATUEALIST. 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, maheri'y, may be compared with that of 

 the hish-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 sabayee, 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 



* KajxrjXos Bpofias — Camelos dromas, ninuing or swift camel. 



