AHAIUAN CAMLL. 233 



the darkness of night, serves only to give him a 

 clearer idea of his own wretchedness and impo- 

 tence, and to conceal from Ins view the barriers 

 of the void, by extending around him that im- 

 mense abyss which separates him from the habit- 

 able parts of the earth; an abyss which in vain he 

 would attempt to traverse ; for hunger, thirst, and 

 scorching heat haunt every moment that remains 

 to him between despair and death. 



" The Arab, however, by the assistance of hi^ 

 Camcl, has learned to surmount, and even to ap- 

 propriate these frightful intervals of Nature. 

 They serve him for an asylum, they secure hi.- 

 repose, and maintain his independence. But man 

 niver uses anything without ahu.se. This same 

 independent, tranquil, and even rich Arab. 

 instead of regarding his deserts as the rampart > of 

 his liberty, pollutes them with his crimes, lie 

 traverses them to carry oft' gold and slaves from 

 the adjacent nations. He employs them for per 

 petrating his robberies, which unluckily he enjoys 

 more than his liberty; for his enterprises are al- 

 most ahvnys sur< r^ful. Notwithstanding the vi- 

 gilance of his neighbours, and the supcriorii 

 their strength, he crimes oft* with impunity, all 

 that lie ra\ ages from them. An Aral), who g 

 himself up to this kind of tci retrial pirac\ . 

 early acciiAtomed to the fatigues of travelling, to 

 want of sleep, and to endure hunger, thiist, and 

 heat. With the same view he instructs, rears, and 

 exercises his Camels. A few clays after their birth, 

 he folds their limbs under their belly, forces them 



