On The Skirts Of The Desert,
Where Water Is More Plentiful, Are Found Lions, Panthers, Elephants,
And Wild Bears.
Of domestic animals, the only one that can endure the fatigue of
crossing the desert is the camel.
By the particular conformation of
the stomach he is enabled to carry a supply of water sufficient for
ten or twelve days; his broad and yielding foot is well adapted for
a sandy country; and, by a singular motion of his upper lip, he
picks the smallest leaves from the thorny shrubs of the desert as he
passes along. The camel is therefore the only beast of burden
employed by the trading caravans which traverse the desert in
different directions, from Barbary to Nigritia. As this useful and
docile creature has been sufficiently described by systematical
writers it is unnecessary for me to enlarge upon his properties. I
shall only add that his flesh, though to my own taste dry and
unsavoury, is preferred by the Moors to any other; and that the milk
of the female is in universal esteem, and is indeed sweet, pleasant,
and nutritive.
I have observed that the Moors, in their complexion, resemble the
mulattoes of the West Indies; but they have something unpleasant in
their aspect which the mulattoes have not. I fancied that I
discovered in the features of most of them a disposition towards
cruelty and low cunning; and I could never contemplate their
physiognomy without feeling sensible uneasiness. From the staring
wildness of their eyes a stranger would immediately set them down as
a nation of lunatics.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 129 of 167
Words from 35431 to 35693
of 45803
