THE CAMEL. 447 



district of Gebel Shammar there are many encampments 

 that possess none ; in Medina they are not seen, and 

 in Mecca there are perhaps not more than sixty be- 

 longing to private individuals; so that the estimate of 

 Burckhardt is perhaps correct, when he affirms that, 

 from Akaba to the shores of Hadramaut, comprising the 

 great chain of mountains and the western plains towards 

 the sea, the amount of horses is not more than 5000 or 

 6000 ; while the aggregate number in the whole penin- 

 sula does not exceed 50,000, a number far inferior to 

 what the same superficial extent in any other part of 

 Asia or Europe would furnish. The rich pastures are 

 not only stocked more abundantly, but likewise produce 

 the finest and most select race. The best Koheyls of the 

 Khomse, or noble breed, are found among the Aenezes 

 and the Rowallas in Nejed and the Hauran, towards the 

 Euphrates. They are not all of the most perfect or distin- 

 guished quality ; and perhaps not above five or six in a 

 whole tribe deserve the name of first-rate in respect to 

 size, bone, beauty, and action. But still their numbers 

 are considerable ; each of which may be bought, if pur- 

 chased in the desert, at from 150 to 200. Taking the 

 comparative excellence of the different races on an ave- 

 rage, Nejed is generally reckoned to produce the noblest ; 

 Hejaz, the handsomest ; Yemen, the most durable ; Sy- 

 ria, the richest in colour ; Mesopotamia, the most quiet ; 

 Egypt, the swiftest ; Barbary, the most prolific ; Persia 

 and Kurdistan, the most warlike. 



The Camel. This useful animal is esteemed by East- 

 ern nations one of the most precious gifts of Providence 

 to man. It seems formed and qualified by nature for a 

 life of patient drudgery. Justly has the Arab, to whose 

 comfort and accommodation it is indispensable, named it 

 the Living Ship of the Desert, as without it he could 

 neither transport himself nor his merchandise across those 

 oceans of sand with which his country is covered. De- 

 scriptions of its habits and uses have been so often given, 

 since the times of Aristotle and Pliny, who have treated 

 with remarkable accuracy of the only two distinct species 

 of this genus which are known, that we shall restrict our 

 account to what may be considered peculiar to it as an 

 inhabitant of Arabia. Between the races of camels in 

 the northern and southern provinces there is a consider- 

 able difference. On the borders of Syria and Mesopota- 



