Page 339 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

300 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [CH.

fighting; the “gentle reprovals” being fero­
cious bites and lacerations of each other’s
ears.

Volriey calculates the pace of the camels of
Syria at three thousand six hundred yards

per hour; and Captain Burnes, who has de­
voted considerable attention to the subject,
found it in Turkistan to be nearly the same.

In Oman I have however ascertained their
average rate of caravan travelling to be con­

siderably more—to determine which, I adopted
the following method : By means of a good

watch I on several occasions accurately noted
the time which was occupied in passing be­

tween two places lying north and south of
each other, the latitudes of which I had care­
fully fixed, and the result gives from two

and a half to two and three quarters geogra­
phical miles an-hour; and this, I observe, is

the same as that reckoned by Burckhardt.
But the usual pace of the Oiniin camels, when
the Bedowins mount them for a desert jour­

ney, is a quick hard trot, from six to eight
miles an hour. They will continue this for

twenty to twenty-four consecutive hours ; but
increase their speed, on occasions which