THE CAMEL. 
128 
bodies called caravans, in order to be able t'’ 
protect themselves from the attacks and d®' 
predations of the banditti. These caravan^' 
which journey many hundreds, nay, perhaps 
thousands, of miles to the place of their desb' 
nation, are composed of persons either trave ' 
ling for purposes purely commercial, or 
forming the annual pilgrimage to Mecca 
joined by the Mahometan religion, whi^ 
brings together the professors of that laP^ 
from the remotest countries of Asia aP 
Africa. Caravans of this kind have been kno''^'* 
to consist of ten thousand persons, with 
haps the like number of camels, which susta>’’ 
an important part in these extraordinary 
neys. The caravans of Egypt bring to Cai 
ostrich feathers, gum, gold-dust, and i''v^ 
from Abyssinia and countries still more 
tant ; and those of Arabia exchange in 
capital the spices, coffee, perfumes, and IP 
lins of Hindostan. The productions even 
