DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4996#0014
f> CAMEL-RIDING.
though I had looked forward with delight to the time of setting off,
the journey now for the first time seemed formidable ; and with not
even a friendly shake of the hand, or a parting God-bVye—within
a stone's throw too of the grave of poor Burckkardt, I could not
repress a feeling of melancholy. But the Arabs cut this short, by sud-
denly leaping up out of the shade of a ruined tomb, and mechanically
bringing forward my dromedary, over whose wooden packsaddle,
mattress, carpet, and saddlebags were spread, so as to make a broad
and comfortable seat; the growling animal was forced upon its knees:
and leaping on, and holding firm by the pegs of the saddle as he sud-
denly rose up on his hind legs, I achieved (more fortunate than some
others) my first ascent without pitching head foremost upon the sands,
which I accounted a good omen: the others were ready, and we
paced off on our noiseless track over the broad expanse, as a vessel
spreads its sail and slips quietly out to sea ; while the minarets of
Cairo grew fainter and fainter, till we lost them in the red and
dusky haze of an Egyptian atmosphere.
A singular and half-dreamy sensation is that of first riding a
camel, the very opposite to that quickening of the pulse which comes
to us on horseback. Your seat, on a broad pile of carpets, is so
easy and indolent, the pace of the animal so equal and quiet,—in-
stead of the noisy clatter of hoofs, you scarcely hear the measured and
monotonous impress of the broad soft foot on the yielding sand,—
the air fans you so lazily as you move along ; from your lofty post your
view over the Desert is so widely extended, the quiet is so intense,
that you fall by degrees into a state of pleasurable reverie, mingling
early ideas of the East with their almost fanciful realization. And
thus the hours pass away till a sense of physical uneasiness begins to
predominate, and at length becomes absorbing. It now appears that
the chief and only art in camel-riding lies in the nice poising and
management of the vertebral column, which seems to refuse its
office, though you sustain its failing functions by a desperate tighten-
ing of your belt. To sit quite upright for a length of time is difficult
on account of your extended legs : you throw your weight alternately
to the right or left, lean dangerously forward on the pummel,, sit side-
though I had looked forward with delight to the time of setting off,
the journey now for the first time seemed formidable ; and with not
even a friendly shake of the hand, or a parting God-bVye—within
a stone's throw too of the grave of poor Burckkardt, I could not
repress a feeling of melancholy. But the Arabs cut this short, by sud-
denly leaping up out of the shade of a ruined tomb, and mechanically
bringing forward my dromedary, over whose wooden packsaddle,
mattress, carpet, and saddlebags were spread, so as to make a broad
and comfortable seat; the growling animal was forced upon its knees:
and leaping on, and holding firm by the pegs of the saddle as he sud-
denly rose up on his hind legs, I achieved (more fortunate than some
others) my first ascent without pitching head foremost upon the sands,
which I accounted a good omen: the others were ready, and we
paced off on our noiseless track over the broad expanse, as a vessel
spreads its sail and slips quietly out to sea ; while the minarets of
Cairo grew fainter and fainter, till we lost them in the red and
dusky haze of an Egyptian atmosphere.
A singular and half-dreamy sensation is that of first riding a
camel, the very opposite to that quickening of the pulse which comes
to us on horseback. Your seat, on a broad pile of carpets, is so
easy and indolent, the pace of the animal so equal and quiet,—in-
stead of the noisy clatter of hoofs, you scarcely hear the measured and
monotonous impress of the broad soft foot on the yielding sand,—
the air fans you so lazily as you move along ; from your lofty post your
view over the Desert is so widely extended, the quiet is so intense,
that you fall by degrees into a state of pleasurable reverie, mingling
early ideas of the East with their almost fanciful realization. And
thus the hours pass away till a sense of physical uneasiness begins to
predominate, and at length becomes absorbing. It now appears that
the chief and only art in camel-riding lies in the nice poising and
management of the vertebral column, which seems to refuse its
office, though you sustain its failing functions by a desperate tighten-
ing of your belt. To sit quite upright for a length of time is difficult
on account of your extended legs : you throw your weight alternately
to the right or left, lean dangerously forward on the pummel,, sit side-