The Dromedary. 171 
attached, " was sent with Camels to a distant post across 
the desert. The Camel, slow as he generally is in his 
actions, lifts up his hind legs very briskly at the instant 
the rider is in the saddle ; the man is thus thrown for- 
ward ; a similar movement of the fore legs throws him 
backward ; each motion is repeated ; and it is not till the 
fourth movement, when the Dromedary is fairly on his 
feet, that the rider can recover his balance. None of lis 
could resist the first impulse, and thus nobody could laugh 
at his companions." Macfarlane, in his work on Con- 
stantinople, tells us that upon his first Camel adventure 
he was so unprepared for the probable effect of the crea- 
ture's rising behind, that he was thrown over his head, 
to the infinite amusement of the Turks, who laughed 
heartily at his inexperience. 
Though the name of Dromedary is very generally 
applied to all the one-humped camels, both in common 
parlance and books on Natural History, it is said that 
the true Dromedary (El Herie) is merely a peculiarly 
swift camel. The name of Dromedary, indeed, appears 
to be applied in the East to all the higher bred camels, 
the genealogy of which is kept by the Arabs as carefully 
as that of their horses. 
Possessing strength and activity surpassing that of 
most beasts of burthen, docile, patient of hunger and 
thirst, and contented with small quantities of the coarsest 
provender, the camel is one of the most valuable gifts of 
Providence. There is nothing, however, in the exterior 
appearance of the animal to indicate the existence of any 
of its excellent qualities. In form and proportions it is 
very opposite to our usual ideas of perfection and beauty. 
A stout body, having the back disfigured by a great 
hump ; limbs long, slender, and seemingly too weak to 
support the trunk; a long, thin, crooked neck, sur- 
mounted by a heavily-proportioned head, are all ill-suited 
to produce favourable impressions. Nevertheless, there 
is no creature more excellently adapted to its situation, 
nor is there one in which more of creative wisdom is 
displayed in the peculiarities of its organization. To 
the Arabs, and other wanderers of the desert, the Camel 
is at once wealth, subsistence, and protection. 
