‘A Pilgrimage to Nejd, the cradle of the Arab race. A visit to the court of the Arab Emir, and "Our Persian Campaign."' [‎6] (49/334)

6 A Pilgrimage to Nejd. [ch. i.
a little girl to bring the camels out of the yard for
us to look at. The child managed these camels just
as well as any man could have done. Mohammed
seems to have made a good selection. There are
four deluls for riding, and four big baggage camek;
these last have remarkably ugly heads, but they
look strong enough to carry away the gates of
Gaza, or anything else we choose to put upon their
backs. In choosing camels, the principal points to
look at are breadth of chest, depth of barrel, short
ness of leg, and for condition roundness of flank. I
have seen the strength of the hocks tested by a man
standing on them while the camel is kneeling. If
it can rise, notwithstanding the weight, there can
be no doubt as to soundness. One only of the
camels did not quite please us, as there was a sus
picion of recent mange ; but Abdallah (Mohammed's
cousin) puts it " on his head " that all is right with
this camel, as with the rest. They are not an ex
pensive purchase at any rate, as they average less
than £10 a piece. One cannot help pitying them,
poor beasts, w r hen one thinks of the immense
journey before them, and the little probability there
is that they will all live to see the end of it. Fortu
nately they do not know their fate any more than
we know ours. How wretched we should be for
them if we knew exactly in what wady or at what
steep place they would lie down and be left to die ;
for such is the fate of camels. But if we did, we
should never have the heart to set out at all.