A DEPARTURE FROM CAIRO

"The camels are ready"

"Yes, commander, and so are the Howadji."

The sun was nearing the pyramids, and doubly beautiful in the afternoon, "the delight of the imagination" lay silent before, compelling our admiration. I lingered and lingered upon the little balcony. Ha-ha, said the donkey-boys beneath, and I leaned over and saw a company trotting along.

The camels lay under the trees, and a turbaned group, like the wise men at the manger, in old pictures, awaited our departure with languid curiosity. The Pasha descended the stairs, and I followed him, just as the commander announced for the twelfth time

"The camels are ready."

The camels lay patiently under the trees before the door, quietly ruminating. Our caravan consisted of seven, four of which had been loaded and sent forward with their drivers, and were to halt at a village beyond the city; the other three awaited the pleasure of the Howadji and the commander. It was time to mount, and the farewells must be spoken.

Addio! With the word trembling upon my tongue, and half looking back and muttering last words, I laid my left hand carelessly upon the back of the recumbent camel to throw myself leisurely into the seat.

I had seen camels constantly for two months, and had condemned them as the slowest and most conceited of brutes. I had supposed an elephantine languor in every motion, and had anticipated a luxurious cradling over the desert in their rocking

gait, for to the outward eye their movement is imaged by the lazy swell of summer waves.

The saddle is a wooden frame, with a small upright stake, both in front and behind. Between these stakes, and upon the frame, are laid the blankets, carpets, and other woolen con

veniences for riding. Over all is thrown the brilliant Persian rug.

The true method of mounting is to grasp the stakes in each hand, and to swing yourself rapidly and suddenly into the seat, while the camel driver-if you are luxurious and timid-holds his foot upon the bent fore-knee of the camel. Once in the seat you must cling closely, through the three convulsive

spasms of rising and righting, two of which jerk you violently forward and one backward.

This is a very simple mystery. But I was ignorant, and did not observe that no camel driver was at the head of my beast. In fact, I observed only that the great blue cotton umbrella, covered with white cloth, and the two water jugs dangling from the rear stake of my saddle, were an amusing combination of luxury and necessity.

Ready to mount, I laid my hand as carelessly and leisurely upon the front stake as if my camel had been a cow. But scarcely had my right foot left the earth on its meditative way to the other side of the saddle, when the camel snorted, threw back his head, and sprang up nimbly as a colt.

I, meanwhile, was left dangling with the blue cotton umbrella, and the water jugs at the side, several feet from the ground. I made a grasp at the rear stake, but I clutched only the luxuries, and down we fell, Howadji, pocket-pistols, umbrella, and water jugs in a confused heap. The good commander arrived at the scene, and swore fiercely at the Arabs. Then very blandly, he instructed me in the mystery of camelclimbing, and in a few minutes we were on the way to Jerusalem.

With the first swing of the camel, Egypt and the Nile began to recede. With this shuttle the desert was to be woven into the web of my life. We passed through the outskirts of the city. The streets were narrow and dirty as we approached the gate, although they wound under beautiful lattices, and palms drooped over the roofs.

Superior to the scene, we rode upon our lofty camels. They swayed gently along, and occasionally swung their heads and long necks awkwardly aside to peer through the lattices. The

odd silence and sadness, whose spell I had constantly felt in Cairo, brooded over "the superb town, the holy city" to the last. As we passed out of the gate into the desert, no hope called after us.

As we advanced, we saw more plainly the blank sand that overspread the earth, from us to the eastern horizon. Out of its illimitable reaches paced strings of camels, with swarthy Arabs. Single horsemen, and parties upon donkeys ambled quietly by. Our path lay northward along the line where the greenness of the Nile-valley blends with the desert. There was a little scant shrubbery upon the sides of the way-groves of mimosa, through which stretched the light sand, almost like a road.

As the sun set, I turned upon my camel, and saw Grand Cairo for the last time. The evening darkened, and we paced along in perfect silence. The stars shone with the crisp brilliancy of our January nights, but the air was balmy, veined occasionally with a streak of strange warmth, which I knew was the breath of the desert.

The Arabs that had gone forward with the pack camels were to encamp just beyond a little town which we entered after dark. It was a collection of mud hovels, and we reflected with satisfaction upon the accommodation of our new tent, and the refreshing repose it promised. A few steps beyond the town brought us to the white-domed tomb of a sheik, just on the edge of the desert, and there the camping-ground was chosen.

In a few minutes our desert palace was built. The riding camels were then led up, and made to kneel while the carpets, blankets, and matting were removed from the saddle. We laid the matting on the sand, spread over it a coarse, thick carpet

ing, and covered the whole with two Persian rugs, one upon each side of the pole The traveling-bags were then thrown in, and we commenced Arabian housekeeping.

pyr'a-mids, great stone monuments

near Cairo.

tur'baned, wearing turbans.
lan'guid, weak; without anima-
tion.

ru'mi-na"ting, chewing the cud.

GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS.

con-vul'sive, nervous; without con-
trol of the muscles.
med'i-ta-tive, thoughtful.

bland'ly, in a soft or mild manner.
il-lim'i-ta-ble, without limit.
mi-mo'sa, a sensitive plant.

GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS (1824-92) was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He was at one time an editorial writer on the staff of the New York Tribune and later became editor of Harper's Magazine. His writings on his travels in foreign lands are as enjoyable as they are instructive. This story is taken from his book, "Howadji in Syria." He wrote also "Nile Notes of a Howadji." (This is a word used by Arabians to mean a European tourist.) His book "Prue and I" is well known and greatly liked.

Read again the story, “Dog-sleighing in Siberia." Who had the more difficult task, Mr. Kennan in trying to drive a team of dogs, or Mr. Curtis in attempting to mount a camel?

Write a description of one of the following animals: Camel, elephant, otter, bear, wolf, whale, shark, seal, salmon, beaver, alligator, tiger. 1. Where is this animal found?

2. What is its height, length, weight, shape, color?

3. What are its habits? What kind of home does it have? What does it eat? How does it obtain its food? What animals does it fear? 4. Of what use is this animal? Can it be trained to work? How is it captured?

5. Tell a short story about the animal described.

Write a description of a familiar animal, as a horse, cow, sheep, squir rel, goat, pig, rabbit, cat, dog.