DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12665#0066
ADVENTURE WITH A LAMB.
57
among camels and dromedaries all his life ; and
his statement was assented to by all his compan-
ions. I do not give this out as a discovery made
at this late day, in regard to an animal so well
known as the camel; indeed, I am told that the
Arabs are not ignorant of that elegance of civilized
life called "quizzing;" I give it merely to show
how I whiled away my time in the desert, and for
what it is worth.
Towards midday the sheik dashed across the
plain, with his long lance poised in his hand, and
his scarlet dress streaming in the wind ; and about
an hour afterward we came to his spear stuck in
the sand, and a little Bedouin boy sitting by it to
invite us to his father's tent. We turned aside, and
coming to the tent, found the sheik sitting on the
ground refreshing himself with long .draughts of
goat's milk. He passed the skin to us ; but, as
master of the ceremonies, he declined the regular
Arab invitation to stay and eat a lamb. He could
not, however, neglect the goods the gods provided,
and told our host that we would take a lamb with
us for our evening meal. The lamb was caught,
and with his legs tied was thrown into a sack,
where he made music for us for the rest of the day.
To the Bedouin, next to the pleasure of eating a
lamb, is that of knowing he has one to eat; and so
the bleating of the doomed innocent was merely a
whetter of appetite. After we had gone some dis-
tance from the tent, we set down the lamb on the
ground, and I never saw a creature so perfectly
VOL. II.-F
57
among camels and dromedaries all his life ; and
his statement was assented to by all his compan-
ions. I do not give this out as a discovery made
at this late day, in regard to an animal so well
known as the camel; indeed, I am told that the
Arabs are not ignorant of that elegance of civilized
life called "quizzing;" I give it merely to show
how I whiled away my time in the desert, and for
what it is worth.
Towards midday the sheik dashed across the
plain, with his long lance poised in his hand, and
his scarlet dress streaming in the wind ; and about
an hour afterward we came to his spear stuck in
the sand, and a little Bedouin boy sitting by it to
invite us to his father's tent. We turned aside, and
coming to the tent, found the sheik sitting on the
ground refreshing himself with long .draughts of
goat's milk. He passed the skin to us ; but, as
master of the ceremonies, he declined the regular
Arab invitation to stay and eat a lamb. He could
not, however, neglect the goods the gods provided,
and told our host that we would take a lamb with
us for our evening meal. The lamb was caught,
and with his legs tied was thrown into a sack,
where he made music for us for the rest of the day.
To the Bedouin, next to the pleasure of eating a
lamb, is that of knowing he has one to eat; and so
the bleating of the doomed innocent was merely a
whetter of appetite. After we had gone some dis-
tance from the tent, we set down the lamb on the
ground, and I never saw a creature so perfectly
VOL. II.-F