I went out early in the morning before any other passenger was stirring, and examined the beasts with the eye of a connoisseur. They were all lying down and chewing the cud of content or some other kind of grass, and I endeavored to get on friendly terms with them. I patted one on the head and he resented the familiarity by endeavoring to bite a section from the seat of my trowsers.
This kind of performance was not calculated to secure my friendship and I moved on to another which the boy in charge insisted was tayb kateer (very good). He did not try to bite and as he was of goodly size I chose him. Then I proceeded to mount and took my seat in the saddle which had a strong resemblance to a wood-sawyer’s “horse” with a blanket over it. Now was the critical moment.
I grasped firmly the pommel of the saddle and also the cantle; as I did so, the boy pulled the camel’s halter and uttered something like “Hey da! Hey da!”
The camel lifted his shoulders and came up to his knees; then he brought up his hind quarters to the full height of the legs there, and finally he arose from his knees to his fore feet. The motion, so far as I was concerned, was a surge backward, then a surge forward, and finally a backward surge that subsided into a level. Here is the formula: Half the fore-legs, then all the hindlegs, then half the fore-legs. From a level you are pitched backward so that you could easily fall on your shoulders; an instant after, you find yourself inclined forward, and the next instant you are on the backward lean again, and subside into a level. I held on firmly, or I should have come to grief. I fancy the camel boys who stood around had several laughs at my precautions to prevent falling.
The camel kneels in the reverse of the motions of rising, i. e., half the fore-legs, all the hind-legs, and then half the fore-legs. When he is lying down his back is easily accessible for loading or mounting, but when he is up in the air he is a long way off.
I selected one of the largest beasts on purpose to know the sensation of being elevated. I expected to have a sense of insecurity and possibly of giddiness, but on the contrary experienced nothing of the kind.
On the score of beauty the camel has no reason to be proud. His neck and head are ill-shaped and suggest an overgrown turkey; his feet move awkwardly and with an appearance of gout, rheumatism, and spring-halt; his skin looks like an old boot that has been exposed to wind and rain for half a year; and his shape generally is as beautiful as that of a gnarly apple. My camel had a grotesquely colored skin; he had hair in spots and spots without hair, and what he had was of the shade of a very old buffalo robe. He had a sort of wool on his neck, but it was rather bunchy and looked as if his brother camels had browsed upon it; and his under-lip hung down like that of a boy who is about to whimper in expectation of a flogging.
When I mounted him, he arched his neck around like a snake and brought his head quite near mine, and at the same time began a noise that was a combination of screaming, bellowing, and groaning. He kept this up about half the time I was on his back, and altogether he made the journey a musical one.
The regular saddle for riding a camel is a sort of dish, in which you sit with your legs crossed over the animal’s neck or hanging down at will. You can have stirrups if you like, as a rest for the feet, and for a long journey the best plan is to sling a pair of well-filled saddle-bags or a couple of boxes over a common pack saddle, and arrange them in such a way that they form a level surface about six feet from side to side. Cover this with blankets, shawls, and a mattress, and roll up the sheets and pillow of your bed, and strap them to the back of the saddle so as to form a comfortable rest. Fasten a pair of stirrups to the saddlebow and have everything well strapped and corded so as to prevent slipping.