Bible animals : $b being a description of every living creature mentioned in the Scripture, from the ape to the coral.Wood, J. G. (John George)
Religion
Bible animals : $b being a description of every living creature mentioned in the Scripture, from the ape to the coral.
Wood, J. G. (John George)
Animals in the Bible; Nature in the Bible
When the Camel kneels, it first drops on its knees, and then on the
joints of the hind legs. Next it drops on its breast, and then again
on the bent hind legs. In rising it reverses the process, so that a
novice is first pitched forward, then backward, then forward, and then
backward again, to the very great disarrangement of his garments, and
the probable loss of his seat altogether. Then when the animal kneels
he is in danger of being thrown over its head by the first movement,
and jerked over its tail by the second; but after a time he learns to
keep his seat mechanically.
As to the movement of the animal, it is at first almost as unpleasant
as can be conceived, and has been described by several travellers,
some of whose accounts will be here given. First comes Albert Smith,
who declares that any one who wants to practise Camel-riding in
England can do so by taking a music-stool, screwing it up as high as
possible, putting it into a cart without springs, sitting on the top
of it cross-legged, and having the cart driven at full speed
transversely over a newly ploughed field.
There is, however, as great a difference in the gait of Camels as of
horses, some animals having a quiet, regular, easy movement, while
others are rough and high-stepping, harassing their riders grievously
in the saddle. Even the smooth-going Camel is, however, very trying at
first, on account of its long swinging strides, which are taken with
the legs of each side alternately, causing the body of the rider to
swing backwards and forwards as if he were rowing in a boat.
Those who suffer from sea-sickness are generally attacked with the
same malady when they make their first attempts at Camel-riding, while
even those who are proof against this particular form of discomfort
soon begin to find that their backs are aching, and that the pain
becomes steadily worse. Change of attitude is but little use, and the
wretched traveller derives but scant comfort from the advice of his
guide, who tells him to allow his body to swing freely, and that in a
short time he will become used to it. Some days, however, are
generally consumed before he succeeds in training his spine to the
continual unaccustomed movement, and he finds that, when he wakes on
the morning that succeeds his first essay, his back is so stiff that
he can scarcely move without screaming with pain, and that the
prospect of mounting the Camel afresh is anything but a pleasant one.
"I tried to sit erect without moving," writes Mr. Kennard, when
describing his experience of Camel-riding. "This proved a relief for a
few minutes, but, finding the effort too great to continue long in
this position, I attempted to recline with my head resting upon my
hand. This last manoeuvre I found would not do, for the motion of the
camel's hind legs was so utterly at variance with the motion of his
fore-legs that I was jerked upwards, and forwards, and sideways, and
finally ended in nearly rolling off altogether.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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