Page 431 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat
P. 431
404
SOUTHERN ARABIA. [ciI.
at speed, is but a shuffling trot, which rarely
exceeds from six to eight miles an hour:
they carry their heads close to the ground,
and have altogether a tame and spiritless
appearance; but the camel of Yemen, as of
Oman, bears its head erect, and throws out
its legs with as much freedom and boldness
as a horse, and its progress, at what appears
its natural pace, cannot be less than twelve
or fourteen miles an hour, for they kept our
horses at a hand gallop. The rider sits
across the animal’s shoulders, his right foot
placed on the neck, with which he urges him
to speed. Independent of the halter, which
is merely fastened round the jaw, the guide
has also a string attached to the cartilage of
the nostril, which, however, is only used to
restrain the animal when restive.
About eight miles from Aden, we halted
for a short time to partake of some coffee at
the tomb of Sheikh Osman. It is a singular
looking building of a square form, its roof
being composed of a number of small cupo
las, ranged in parallel lines, with a large
dome in the centre, over the sacred spot
which contains the remains of the Sheikh.