The Cairo bulletin., 1912-03-18
CAMEL RIDING AN ART
AND ONE THAT is PECULIARLY
HARD TO ACQUIRE.
English Soldiers Have Humorous ES.
perienees With the "Shlps of the
Overwhelmingly obstinacy
Seemingly UnconquerahIe.

All that is necessary, 1t is claimed
by those In position to know, to be-
come an expert camel rider Is to get
the right tension on the reins, or rath-
er on the nose-string, when the camel
will trot along at perfectly uniform
gait. hout after hour If the reins are
Gackened the beast stops. When they
are pulled TOO hard he goes the fast
er. Experienced riders tie the reins
at the proper tension to the pom mmeml
of the saddle and then settle them
selves down to sleep, II they are so
minded. The reputed docility OF the
camel is said to be unmerited. He ia
simply stupid beyond all other beasts
of burden.
He takes no heed Of his rider, tpays
no attention whether he be on his
back or not, walks straight on when
once he is set going, merely because
he Is too stupid to turn aside; and If
anything tempts him out of the path
he continues to walk on in the new di.
rection simply because he Is too dull
to turn back into the right path. To
contend successfully againftt the pro-
digious, persistent and invariable stu
pidity constitute the whole art OF cam.
el riding.
Experts aver that nothing is more
amusing to the officer initiated into
the mysteries of camel riding and
driving than the sight of recruit in
the east fighting against the dullness
OF his camel.
1t is said to be a common sight Of
the march in countries where the Brit.
ish have employed the camel to come
across a soldier standing, with coun.
tenance Of utter despair, by the side
of loaded but motionless drun nedary.
gazing up at the supercilious brute
with an expression of most comical
helplessness
The recruit has exhausted every de-
vice that he can invent to make the
beast understand what It ought to
do, but all In vain, and there the sol.
dier stands, utterly staggered and
dumfounded by such a miracle Of stu.
pidity. Generally the man ia too far
gone in hopeless hewilderment even &c
use profanity. His vocabulary has
has long since been exhausted.
1t generally happens that the sol
dier has nothing with which to beat
the beast. He cannot reach up TO its
body with his foot to kick 1t. pumr1el
Ing with his fist has no appreciable eff
feet upon the camel; he might as wei
thump the ground. so he Is at his
wits ends and his discontinue ia as
complete as It Is ludicrous. AS for
the camel, it stands there exactl,
where 1t had stopped. gazing into spac,
with look OF silly loftiness, as If 4
saw the north pole in the distance. anf
with complacency that would not bt
inappropriate were 1t viewing a. visior
of an angel.
That 1t is falling short of its SutIe,
obviously has no interest for the idI
otic beast. II never so much as winks
but simply stands In it's tracks will
its head high up In the air as II await
ing a revelation. There Is nothing 4
be done except to wait until the 9th
,er camels come along and then Il
tie Its nose to the tail of the las
ship" in line.
The sight Of the hind legs of tn,
animal in front of 1t moving and tn,
tension Of the string on its own nos
triis ere the only hints 1t can. under
tandsHarperI Waekig. .z.a-.1,- q