A STRIKING SCENE. 
357 
Beyond Bireh, toward Jerusalem, we entered a rocky plain 
entirely destitute of wood. This, with little change, continued 
till we began to ascend the mountains overlooking the sacred 
city. Several caravans of camels, laden with merchandise 
for the interior towns, obstructed the narrow passes in the 
rocks, and sometimes obliged us to turn hack in order to 
avoid being walked over. It was very Oriental, this sort of 
thing, but not pleasant. I had a great notion to put some 
of those camels to death—especially one that walked both 
Saladin and myself off the road, and sent us rolling down 
a steep hill, in such a dangerous way that it was a miracle 
our necks were not broken. 
The camel is an oddity in his way. He looks very well in 
a picture or on a desert standing under a palm-tree ; he looks 
well at a distance with a family of Bedouins on his back ; he 
looks well lying down by the ruins of an old mosque ; in an 
artistical point of view, he looks well almost any where ; yet 
when you come to analyze his character, and consider all the 
fine descriptions that poetical writers have given of his pa¬ 
tience, his gentleness, his powers of endurance, his admirable 
physical construction, and all that, I am rather disposed to 
regard him in the light of a humbug; and I take the more 
satisfaction in expressing this opinion because it has a healing 
influence upon the bruises that I received when Saladin and 
myself were rolled down the hill. As to his gentleness, he is 
gentle from pure laziness. He can be vicious enough at times. 
Let any body who would test the mild spirit of the camel, 
place his fingers between the teeth of that gentle animal, at 
certain periods, when he has been fretted, and there will soon 
be no further room for doubt on the subject. The camel is 
gentle, when he is not savage ; patient, when he is not im¬ 
patient; affectionate, when he wants something to eat; docile, 
when he is taught to understand that the absence of docility 
is usually filled with a stick. As to his physical strength 
and powers of endurance : Can he jump as far as a flea ? 
can he carry as heavy a load on his back; can he endure 
half the amount of heat or cold ? I mean in proportion to 
his size. Let any body who admires the beauty of the camel 
