HERE AND THERE IN NORTHERN AFRICA 71 



bred near the coast have become more or 

 less accustomed to drinking at frequent 

 intervals and require water every two or 

 three days. Those of the Sahara can go 

 much longer without water and do not 

 suffer in the least. A camel can abstain 

 from drinking for six to ten days during 

 the winter, spring, and autumn. In the 

 hot summer months of July, August, 

 September, and October, five days' absti- 

 nence seem to be the limit without in- 

 flicting unnecessary suffering upon the 

 animal. 



SUPERB RACING CAMELS OP THE DESERT 



In the interior of northern Africa is 

 a superb race of camels known as the 

 mehara (singular, mchari), or racing 

 camels. The mehara owe a great deal to 

 the care taken in their breeding during 

 the past 2,000 years. Ancient writers 

 speak of camels used by the army of 

 Xerxes, more than 2,000 years ago, that 

 had the speed of the fastest horses ; these 

 were doubtless mehara. 



When a baby mehari is born it is 

 swathed in bandages to prevent the stom- 

 ach from getting too large, and is taken 

 into the family tent, where it is nursed 

 and watched over with care and tender- 

 ness. When a year old, it is sheared, and 

 is known from then on as a bou-keutaa, 

 which means "the father of the shearing." 

 Arabs are very fond of nicknames and 

 everything and everybody is given one. 



For the first year it is allowed to wan- 

 der at will and follow its mother. The 

 bou-keutaa is weaned by a pointed stick 

 being run through one nostril and left in 

 the wound. When the young camel tries 

 to suckle its mother the stick pricks her 

 and she kicks the baby camel away. It 

 soon leaves the mother and learns to eat 

 fresh green shrubs. In the spring it is 

 sheared again and the name of heug re- 

 places that of bou-keutaa. 



When it is two years old its training 

 begins. A halter is placed around the 

 head and a cord tied to one of the fore 

 feet. It is kept quiet first by gestures 

 and the voice ; later by the voice alone. 

 Then the cord is loosened, but should it 

 make a step it is tied again. Finally it 

 understands what is required, but the les- 

 sons are only terminated when it will 



stand in one place without moving for an 

 entire day. 



To make a heug kneel, the rider cries 

 out, "Ch-ch-ch," and a person standing 

 near strikes it with a stick on the knees 

 at the same time the rider speaks to it. 

 The camel soon learns to kneel without 

 being struck. To make it a fast run- 

 ner, the rider whips it on both flanks 

 alternately with a rhinoceros-hide whip 

 and cries out in Arabic to excite it. A 

 young mehari is very fond of its own 

 skin, and on being struck starts on a 

 gallop. The whipping keeps up and the 

 camel tries to get away by running faster. 

 The long legs seem like wings. and it flies 

 past with the speed of an ostrich. It 

 will stop instantly at a pull on the rein, 

 no matter what speed it has been mak- 

 ing. 



When the rider jumps off, or should 

 he happen to fall, a well-trained mehari 

 will stand quite still and wait, while 

 should the master happen to be injured 

 the faithful beast will never leave him. 



When a heug can turn in a narrow cir- 

 cle around a spear and start off at full 

 speed the instant it is pulled up, the pe- 

 riod of training is considered finished. 

 The camel is no longer a heug; it has 

 become a mehari and is ready for the 

 races or the war-path. 



TPIE WAY TO RIDE A RACING CAMEE 



A mehari is never used as a beast of 

 burden ; all it ever carries is a saddle 

 ( something like a Mexican saddle, made 

 of gazelle skin, dyed red, with a high 

 pommel and a cross in front), two saddle- 

 bags, and a rider 



The rider is buckled into the saddle by 

 two belts. His feet are crossed in front 

 of the saddle and rest on the neck of the 

 mehari. His slippers are usually slung 

 across the pommel, and the mehari is 

 guided by the wriggling of the rider's 

 toes. 



An iron ring passes through one nos- 

 tril of the animal and a rein of camels' 

 hair is attached. Should the mehari nib- 

 ble from the bushes on the wavside, the 

 slightest jerk of the rein will bring it up, 

 and a pull to the right or left will make 

 it take the direction wished, although the 

 voice and the toes are the usual guides. 



