DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12665#0140
124 INCIDENTS OF TRAVE&.
had coffee prepared before we came up. White
we were sitting around the spear, two of our cam-
els so far forgot the calm dignity of their nature,
and their staid, quiet habits, as to get into a fight;
and one of them, finding himself likely to come off
second best, took to his heels, and the other after
him ; they were baggage camels, one being charged
with my boxes of provisions and housekeeping
apparatus, and his movements indicated death to
crockery. I will not go into particulars,, for eggs,
rice, macaroni, and lamp-oil make a bad mixture;
and though the race and fight between the loaded
camels were rather ludicrous, the consequence was
by no means a pleasant thing in the desert.
The next morning we had another camel scene ;
for one of the combatants was stretched upon the
sand, his bed of death. The Bedouins had exam-
ined him, and, satisfied that the hand of death was
upon him, they left him to breathe his last alone.
The camel is to the Arab a treasure above all
price. He is the only animal by nature and con-
stitution framed for the desert, for he alone can
travel several days without eating or drinking.
Every part of him is useful; his milk is their
drink, his flesh their food, and his hair sup-
plies materials for their rude garments and
tents. Besides this, the creature is domesticated
with the Bedouin—grows up in his tent, feeds
from his hand, kneels down to receive his burden,
and rises as if glad to carry his master; and, in
short, is so much a part of a Bedouin's family, that
had coffee prepared before we came up. White
we were sitting around the spear, two of our cam-
els so far forgot the calm dignity of their nature,
and their staid, quiet habits, as to get into a fight;
and one of them, finding himself likely to come off
second best, took to his heels, and the other after
him ; they were baggage camels, one being charged
with my boxes of provisions and housekeeping
apparatus, and his movements indicated death to
crockery. I will not go into particulars,, for eggs,
rice, macaroni, and lamp-oil make a bad mixture;
and though the race and fight between the loaded
camels were rather ludicrous, the consequence was
by no means a pleasant thing in the desert.
The next morning we had another camel scene ;
for one of the combatants was stretched upon the
sand, his bed of death. The Bedouins had exam-
ined him, and, satisfied that the hand of death was
upon him, they left him to breathe his last alone.
The camel is to the Arab a treasure above all
price. He is the only animal by nature and con-
stitution framed for the desert, for he alone can
travel several days without eating or drinking.
Every part of him is useful; his milk is their
drink, his flesh their food, and his hair sup-
plies materials for their rude garments and
tents. Besides this, the creature is domesticated
with the Bedouin—grows up in his tent, feeds
from his hand, kneels down to receive his burden,
and rises as if glad to carry his master; and, in
short, is so much a part of a Bedouin's family, that