chap, vi.] THE HYGEEN, OR RIDING DROMEDARY. 255 
shelter. The peculiar spongy formation of the foot 
renders the camel exceedingly sure, although it is 
usual to believe that it is only adapted for flat, sandy 
plains. I have travelled over mountains so preci¬ 
pitous that no domestic animal but the camel could 
have accomplished the task with a load. This capa¬ 
bility is not shared generally by the race, but by a 
breed belonging to the Hadendowa Arabs, between 
the Eed Sea and Taka. There is quite as great a 
variety in the breeds of camels as of horses. Those 
most esteemed in the Soodan are the Bishareen; they 
are not so large as others, but are exceedingly strong 
and enduring. 
The average value of a baggage camel among the 
Soodan Arabs is fifteen dollars, but a good “ hygeen,” 
or riding dromedary, is worth from fifty to a hundred 
and fifty dollars, according to his capabilities. A 
thoroughly good hygeen is supposed to travel fifty 
miles a day, and to continue this pace for five days, 
carrying only his rider and a small water skin or girba. 
His action should be so easy that his long ambling 
trot should produce that peculiar movement adopted 
by a nurse when hushing a child to sleep upon her 
knee. This movement is delightful, and the quick 
elastic step of a first-class animal imparts an invigorat¬ 
ing spirit to the rider, and were it not for the intensity 
