Story of the Bible Animals: A Description of the Habits and Uses of every living Creature mentioned in the Scriptures, with Explanation of Passages in the Old and New Testament in which Reference is made to themWood, J. G. (John George)
Religion
Story of the Bible Animals: A Description of the Habits and Uses of every living Creature mentioned in the Scriptures, with Explanation of Passages in the Old and New Testament in which Reference is made to them
Wood, J. G. (John George)
Animals in the Bible; Nature in the Bible
The limbs of the Deloul are long and wiry, having not an ounce of
superfluous fat upon them, the shoulders are very broad, and the
hump, though firm and hard, is very small.
A thoroughbred Deloul, in good travelling condition, is not at
all a pleasing animal to an ordinary eye, being a lank, gaunt, and
ungainly-looking creature, the very conformation which insures its
swiftness and endurance being that which detracts from its beauty.
An Arab of the desert, however, thinks a good Deloul one of the
finest sights in the world. As the talk of the pastoral tribes is of
sheep and oxen, so is the talk of the nomads about Camels. It is a
subject which is for ever on their lips, and a true Bedouin may be
seen to contemplate the beauties of one of these favourite animals
for hours at a time,--if his own, with the rapture of a possessor,
or, if another's, with the determination of stealing it when he can
find an opportunity.
Instead of plodding along at the rate of three miles an hour, which
is the average speed of the common Camel, the Deloul can cover,
if lightly loaded, nine or ten miles an hour, and go on at the
same pace for a wonderful time, its long legs swinging, and its
body swaying, as if it were but an animated machine. Delouls have
been reported to have journeyed for nearly fifty hours without
a single stop for rest, during which time the animals must have
traversed nearly five hundred miles. Such examples must, however,
be exceptional, implying, as they do, an amount of endurance on the
part of the rider equal to that of the animal; and even a journey of
half that distance is scarcely possible to ordinary men on Delouls.
For the movements of the Deloul are very rough, and the rider is
obliged to prepare himself for a long journey by belting himself
tightly with two leathern bands, one just under the arms, and the
other round the pit of the stomach. Without these precautions, the
rider would be likely to suffer serious injuries, and, even with
them, the exercise is so severe, that an Arab makes it a matter of
special boast that he can ride a Deloul for a whole day.
A courier belonging to the Sherif of Mecca told Mr. Hamilton that he
often went on the same dromedary from Mecca to Medina in forty-eight
hours, the distance being two hundred and forty miles. And a
thoroughbred Deloul will travel for seven or eight weeks with only
four or five days of rest.
Even at the present time, these Camels are used for the conveyance
of special messages, and in the remarkable Bornu kingdom a regular
service of these animals is established, two couriers always
travelling in company, so that if one rider or Camel should fail
or be captured by the Arabs, who are always on the alert for so
valuable a prey, the other may post on and carry the message to its
destination.
[Illustration: ANOTHER MODE OF RIDING THE CAMEL.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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