Down Tumbled A Camel; And Away Rolled His Load
Of Bags, Pots, Pans, Boxes, &C. Into The Bottom Of A Ravine In A
Confused Ruin.
- Halt!
. . And the camel had to be raised and helped up
the opposite bank, while the late avalanche of luggage was carried
piecemeal after him to be again adjusted. To avoid a similar catastrophe
the remaining three camels had to be UNLOADED, and reloaded when safe
upon the opposite bank. The operation of loading a camel with about 700
lbs. of luggage of indescribable variety is at all times tedious; but no
sooner had we crossed one ravine with difficulty than we arrived at
another, and the same fatiguing operation had to be repeated, with
frightful loss of time at the moment when I believed the Turks were
following on our path.
My wife and I rode about a quarter of a mile at the head of the party as
an advance guard, to warn the caravan of any difficulty. The very nature
of the country declared that it must be full of ravines, and yet I could
not help hoping against hope that we might have a clear mile of road
without a break. The evening had passed, and the light faded. What had
been difficult and tedious during the day, now became most serious; -
we could not see the branches of hooked thorns that overhung the broken
path; I rode in advance, my face and arms bleeding with countless
scratches, while at each rip of a thorn I gave a warning shout -
"Thorn!" for those behind, and a cry of "Hole!" for any deep rut that
lay in the path. It was fortunately moonlight, but the jungle was so
thick that the narrow track was barely perceptible; thus both camels and
donkeys ran against the trunks of trees, smashing the luggage, and
breaking all that could be broken; nevertheless, the case was urgent;
march we must, at all hazards.
My heart sank whenever we came to a deep ravine, or Hor; the warning cry
of "halt" told those in the rear that once more the camels must be
unloaded, and the same fatiguing operation must be repeated. For hours
we marched: the moon was sinking; the path, already dark, grew darker;
the animals, overloaded even for a good road, were tired out; and the
men were disheartened, thirsty, and disgusted. I dismounted from my
horse and loaded him with sacks, to relieve a camel that was perfectly
done - but on we marched. Every one was silent; the men were too tired
to speak; and through the increasing gloom we crept slowly forward
Suddenly another ravine, but not so deep; and we trusted that the camels
might cross it without the necessity of unloading; down went the leading
camel, rolling completely over with his load to the bottom. Now, the boy
Saat was the drummer; but being very tired, he had come to the
conclusion that the drum would travel quite as easily upon a camel's
back as upon his shoulders; he had accordingly slung it upon the very
camel that had now performed a somersault and solo on the drum. The
musical instrument was picked up in the shape of a flat dish, and
existed no longer as a drum, every note having been squeezed out of it.
The donkey is a much more calculating animal than the camel, the latter
being an excessively stupid beast, while the former is remarkably clever
- at least I can answer for the ability of the Egyptian species. The
expression "what an ass!" is in Europe supposed to be slightly
insulting, but a comparison with the Egyptian variety would be a
compliment. Accordingly my train of donkeys, being calculating and
reasoning creatures, had from thus night's experience come to the
conclusion that the journey was long; that the road was full of ravines;
that the camels who led the way would assuredly tumble into these
ravines unless unloaded; and that as the reloading at each ravine would
occupy at least half an hour, it would be wise for them (the donkeys) to
employ that time in going to sleep - therefore, as it was just as cheap
to lie down as to stand, they preferred a recumbent posture, and a
refreshing roll upon the sandy ground. Accordingly, whenever the word
"halt" was given, the clever donkeys thoroughly understood their
advantage, and the act of unloading a camel on arrival at a ravine was a
signal sufficient to induce each of twenty-one donkeys to lie down. It
was in vain that the men beat and swore at them to keep them on their
legs; the donkeys were determined, and lie down they would. This
obstinacy on their part was serious to the march - every time that they
lay down they shifted their loads; some of the most wilful (sic)
persisted in rolling, and of course upset their packs. There were only
seventeen men, and these were engaged in assisting the camels; thus the
twenty-one donkeys had it all their own way; and what added to the
confusion was the sudden cry of hyenas in close proximity, which so
frightened the donkeys that they immediately sprang to their feet, with
their packs lying discomfited, entangled among their legs. Thus, no
sooner were the camels reloaded on the other side of the ravine, than
all the donkeys had to undergo the same operation; during which time the
camels, however stupid, having observed the donkeys' "dodge," took the
opportunity of lying down also, and necessarily shifted their loads. The
women were therefore ordered to hold the camels, to prevent them from
lying down while the donkeys were being reloaded; but the women were
dead tired, as they had been carrying loads; they themselves laid down,
and it being dark, they were not observed until a tremendous scream was
heard, and we found that a camel had lain down on the TOP OF A WOMAN who
had been placed to watch it, but who had herself fallen asleep.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 40 of 175
Words from 39939 to 40945
of 178435
