The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-11-27
A CAMEL RIDE In THE DESERT,

L,
the camel is POLITICALLY called The
name has been applied very justly, as
the animal in question is admirably
fitted by nature for service in the desert
regions. He is awkward in movement,
ungainly in figure, and anything but
handsome in appearance; he has a hump
on his back, his feet are ill-shaped, his
joints are covered with callosities re-
sembling the sears of terrible sores, his
upper lip hangs down, and his nostrils
look as though he must breathe with
great difficulty But when we see him
at home we find that the awkward,
swinging movement is the proper one
for the level desert, the tiatness of his
feet prevents their sinking in the sand.
the hanging lip enables him to grasp the
thin heritage that forms his food, the
| narrow nostrils can be closed at will to
exclude sand when the wind blows il
about, the hump on his back is a mass
of fat that enables him to 90 for some
time with little or nothing to eat, and
the callosities on his joints are a pro-
lection from injury when he kneels to
receive his load. Then, too, the stom-
q provision of water may be taken in
for whole week, and the an
imal can drink water which is
altogether too brackish or bitter for the
use of man. The camel can live and
carry heavy burdens where any other
animal would perish, and the deserts
of Asia and Africa could not be
traversed without him. How many
readers have ever had ride on the
back of this famous beast? Most of YOU
will be compelled to answer no; but
You have not missed much in the way
of comfort, for it is very disagree
able experience for anybody who isn't
used to that kind of locomotion.
TO begin with, the driver orders the
camel to kneel, as his back is so high
when standing that you could not get
into the saddle without ladder. When
| the animal is on the ground, the driver
stands by his head to keep him quiet,
and then you get into the saddle. 1t is
not like the saddle of horse, but a sort
of dish in which you sit with your feet
hanging over the side or crossed around
a high pommel. There are no stirrups
for the feet to rest in, but travellers
sometimes tie them on in order to feel
more secure, and obtain change of po-
sition- Sometimes on long Journey o
couple of boxes or large bags are slung
over the camel by means of ropes, and
then with mattresses and bedding you
may make sort of lounge to sit or re-
cline on in variety of positions. But
for a short ride nobody thinks of any,
| thing more than the saddle. When you
are well placed and prepared to hang on
| with all your might, the driver tells the
beast to get up There arethree motions
before he is on his feet; first, back
ward plunge, then a forward one, and
then another one backward. If you look
ut camel when he is getting up, you
will find that he rises on half his fore
legs, then on all his hind legs, and lastly,
on all his fore legs When he is up and
starts off, you begin to realize that rid
ing camel is not the best fun in the
world The motion throws the rider
backward and forward at every step,
and in little while the beginner viii l
think he is being shaken to pieces. In
getting down at the end of ride of q
| couple of hours you feel stiff in every
| Joint, and after resting few minutes it
/ is no easy work to get into motion
again. The second day of travelling
| you feel as though you had a backbone
Of glass, and will not get entirely over
this belief for the rest of the week.
Even the Arabs. after long periods of
resting, are subject to the same trouble,
and find the movement of the camel
very fatiguing, But by the end of a
fortnight one thinks no more of mount
ing camel than of getting ON the back
of horse.
Il Suppose we are mounted and off on q
i ride in the desert If we have driver,
he walks ahead leading the animal by
rope; but if we manage our steed alone
we have the rope in our own hands
The camel isusually obedient, but some
times he becomes vicious and may run
away, in spite of all efforts to restrain
him. When he trots or runs the motion
is far worse than at walking pace;
if you have ever been driven
at gallop over a corduroy road
or cobble-stone pavement, in a
/, wagon without springs, you can have an
+ idea of the motion of camel at full
speed, and it is pretty certain you viii
never want to repeat the experiment.
Sometimes he will twist his long neck
around, like a snake, and try to bite his
rider, and if he gets good hold it is a
serious matter Usually, however, he is
obedient and patient, but it takes long
time to get on really friendly terms with
him. II the desert is sandy we soon
perceive the admirable adaptation OF
. the camel's foot to the SOIL as it spreads
out broad and fat like the foot of duck
or goose. Where the ground is hard
and rocky, the tough skin is aprotection
from injury; he can go up and down
hills without difficulty though he is most
at home on level surface If he is full
grown he can carry sixor eight hundred
pounds with ease, though he will groan
when the least load is put upon his back
as though he was about to be crushed.
The glare of the sun on the sand is
painful to our eyes, and we will pro-
tect them with green wells, or, better
still, with spectaeles or goggles. To
; keep the burning rays from our heads
we spread our umbrellas, and thus
equipped get along very well. There
is not blade of grass to be seen ON the
ground around us, and as we look away
to the mountains or hills that form the
horizon, we find that they are destitute
of trees or other green things. Every
thing IS barren; the ground beneath US
is yellow with sand, the level space
farther away is of deeper yellow, and
the hills and mountains are of the same
color, perhaps with tinge of red. AL
the blue goes out of the sky in
the middle Of the day; there is not d
r cloud to be seen, or even the suggestion
of one, and the traveller very soon longs
to return to the region of green fields,
Y and leave the desolation behind him