CAMEL. 
75 
taining to See us mount our beasts : none of us had 
been able to resist the first shake, and we each had 
to laugh at our companions. 
cc I had been apprehensive,” continues Denon, 
cc of the swinging pace of the camel ; and the 
awkward prancing of the dromedary had made me 
fear that I should be thrown over his head : but I 
was soon undeceived. On being once fixed in the 
saddle, we had only to give way to the motion of 
the beast, and soon found that it was impossible to 
be more pleasantly mounted for a long journey, 
especially as no attention is necessary to guide the 
animal, except in making him deviate from his 
right direction, which very seldom happens in the 
desert during the march of a caravan. The camel 
very rarely trips, and never stumbles where the 
ground is dry. The pace of the dromedary is light ; 
the opening of the angle of his long legs, and the 
flexible spring of his lean foot, render his trot easier, 
and at the same time full as swift as that of the most 
active horse.” 
The Count de BufFon says, that when all the 
qualities of this animal, and all the advantages de- 
rived from him, are considered under one point of 
view, he must be acknowledged the most useful 
creature that was ever subjected to the service of 
man. He may truly be called the genuine trea- 
sure of Asia ; and is perhaps equal in utility to the 
horse, the ass, and the ox, when their powers are 
united. He carries as much as two mules, and is 
content to feed as coarsely as the ass. The flesh 
