Page 340 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

XIX.] TRAVELS IiN OMAN. 301

require it, to thirteen and fifteen miles an
hour. The female is .esteemed swifter than
the male; nevertheless, the Bedowins, in

consequence of its greater spirit, not unfre-
quently prefer the latter. The load of the

camel differs very considerably. In Egypt,
when supplied with abundance of food, they
carry upwards of a thousand pounds ; but the

ordinary burden in a caravan journey is from
two hundred and fifty to five hundred pounds.

The motions and paces of the camel are un
gainly; its walk, its trot at speed, its gallop,
being equally violent and disagreeable.

They adorn the necks of these animals with
a band of cloth or of leather, upon which are

strung or sewn small shells called cowries,
in the form of half-moons. To these the
Sheikhs add ornaments of silver, so that, even

in the present day, they would form a valu­
able prize to the spoiler. We possibly have

here an illustration of several passages in
Holy Writ, as Judges iii. 20. 26, when camel
ornaments are mentioned in connexion with

jewels and other articles of value. The shells
are strung in a semicircular form; hence the

phrase “ ornaments like the moon.”