358 
A CRUSADE IN THE EAST. 
stand behind one and see him go down a hill; cast a look at 
his feet and legs ; and ask himself, Is that beautiful ? is that 
picturesque ? is that graceful ? and he will see how ridiculous 
the idea is, and what an awkward, ungainly, absurd animal 
the camel is. I hold that Tokina, the Prince of Asses, has 
more beauty in his person and more sense in that long head 
of his, than all the camels in Syria. I am perfectly satisfied 
with my experience in camels. Once, during a sojourn in 
Zanzibar, I mounted a camel, and was thrown over his head 
before I had traveled ten paces. On another occasion, as I 
was walking by the sea-shore one morning, three frisky old 
camels, by way of a frolic, ran after me. I was rather brisk 
at running—especially when three large animals with whose 
habits I was not familiar were after me—and I gave them a 
very fair race of it for as much as a mile, and probably might 
have made them run a mile or two more, had I not run into 
some quick-sand. The camels ran all round the quick-sand 
twice or three times, and then went away about their busi¬ 
ness, which was more than I did, for I was up to my arm-pits 
in the sand by that time; and I remained there perfectly 
satisfied that I was gaining on them up to that period, and 
that I would eventually have beaten them had I retained the 
free use of my legs. I was not satisfied, however, with the 
way I was going then, so I shouted to some Arabs who chanced 
to be near, and they pulled me out. Ever since that period 
I have been prejudiced against camels, nor has that prejudice 
been removed by my experience in Syria. I would recom¬ 
mend all camels in future to keep clear of any body that looks 
like a General in the Bobtail Militia. 
