Page 329 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

292 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [CH.

swiftness. Nejd is equally the nursery of the

camel as of the horse ; but the Omany in all
ages is celebrated in the songs of the Arabs

as the fleetest; their legs are more slender
and straight, their eyes more prominent and
sparkling, and their whole appearance denotes

them of higher lineage than the ordinary
breed of the animal. Anecdotes are told of

two which the Imam formerly possessed, that
appear almost incredible. I have heard it
asserted by those on whose testimony I should

place every reliance, that one of these favour­
ite dromedaries carried a courier from Sib to

Sohar, an ordinary journey of six days, in
thirty-six hours. Considering such frequent

mention has been made of the camel from the
earliest period, it is singular we possess no
correct or even detailed information respect­

ing its habits, character, or general appear­
ance. I am not acquainted with a single

illustrated zoological work which affords even
a tolerable representation of one.

The silence of travellers, in reference to an
animal to which all have been so much in­

debted, may be accounted for on the suppo­
sition that each individual conceived the sub