THE DROMEDARY. 517 



but hardly more so than that which is carried in leathern bags on the 

 Camel's back, exposed to the heat of the sun. 



It is a pleasant sight to see the thirsty camels approach a well. 

 Stupid as they are, they never forget where they have once drank. 

 They raise up their heads, snuff the air with half-shut eyes, lay their ears 

 back, and begin to run at a pace which compels the rider to hold on 

 firmly to his saddle. When the well is reached, they crush and crowd 

 each other in their haste to drink, uttering horrible bello wings. They 

 drink for three minutes without interruption, their bodies swell visibly, 

 and when the journey is resumed, the fluid is heard awash in the stomach 

 like water in a half-filled cask. 



When one sees a camel standing in repose, one can scarcely believe 

 that it can vie in speed with a horse. But it can do so. The camels of 

 the desert can accomplish distances and speeds such as no other tame 

 creature can attempt. The ordinary pace, indeed, is not very rapid. 

 " In crossing the Nubian desert," says Captain Peel, " I paid constant 

 attention to the march of the camels, hoping it might be of some service 

 hereafter in determining our position. The number of strides in a 

 minute with the same foot varied very little, only from thirty-seven to 

 thirty-nine, and thirty-eight was the average ; but the length of the 

 stride was more uncertain, varying from six feet six inches to seven feet 

 six inches. As we were always urging the camels, who seemed, like 

 ourselves, to know the necessity of pushing on across that fearful tract, I 

 took seven feet as the average. These figures give a speed of 2.62 

 geographical miles per hour, or exactly three English miles, which may 

 be considered as the highest speed that camels, lightly loaded, can keep 

 up on a journey. In general, it will not be more than two and a half 

 English miles. My dromedary was one of the tallest, and the seat of the 

 saddle was six feet six inches above the ground." But the post-riders, 

 mounted on camels of good blood, perform journeys of incredible 

 rapidity. On such a camel Mohammed Ali rode from Cairo to Alex- 

 andria, a distance of seventy-five miles, in twelve hours. Another camel 

 did the same distance in nine hours, including the loss of an hour in 

 twice crossing the Nile. Such are the camels which the Towaregs use 

 for war and in their predatory excursions. Mounted on his fleet 

 dromedary, the warrior 1 Plate XXXVTII) crosses with inconceivable 

 speed the desert that separates him from the tribe he is going to 

 attack, or the home to which he is returning. 



