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202 went downwards were attached the straps that bound the saddle on. In the centre, over the hump, should have been a padded cushion which should have stretched over the four legs that stood up, but there were only the tatters of a cushion, and pieces of old carpets, and whatever rags the Arabs could find, were put together to take its place. Across this improvised cushion was thrown a pair of big saddle-bags which hung down on each side of the camel. These were stuffed full of all the odds and ends of the camp. He once looked into his, and found a lot of old tin pans. When he sat astride the camel, the stretch was dreadful, to say nothing of knocking against the tin pans. When he sat sideways he could not keep on. He could not keep his seat because of the peculiar jolt of a camel’s gait. The camel moves the two legs on one side, then the two legs on the other, and as it has no spring in its motion, the traveller is jerked first to one side, then to the other, and his back and head keep up a continual wob- <!-- [Page 40](arke:01KFXV09PJC6JJTE60YRCNCQH3) --> 203 26 204 205 ble, wobble, wobble. In despair, our American and his companions, for they all had the same bad saddles and dreadful saddlebags, and they all fell off when they did not want to, tried riding on the camels’ necks. The camels did not mind a particle, but as their necks are sharp and thin, the result was only a change from one discomfort to another. 206 207 This same unlucky camel-rider told me that a camel’s ordinary gait was three miles an hour, which is its natural walk; that it could go at a great speed, but only for a short time, as any gait faster than a walk tired it out very soon, nor could even the Arabs bear the jarring of a fast journey long. An Arab boasted to him that a camel could go sixty miles an hour. This he did not believe, but he did believe it could go a great many miles an hour, because, when running, its stride is enormous. A young camel never used for burdens, such as a sheik would ride, is as much better than an ordinary camel as a fine young horse is better than an old cart- <!-- [Page 41](arke:01KFXV098VNN6C2Y5VA0NHN6EW) --> 208 27 209 210 horse. Perhaps it was one of these young beasts that carried Rebekah. We have left her so long that she must be at the spot where she lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac walking in the fields thinking, and, most probably, watching for her arrival. Again she justified the servant's opinion that a courteous damsel would do everything right, for she alighted at once, as it was proper for her to do when Isaac was on foot, and covered herself with a long cloak-like veil, just as an Eastern bride would do now if she saw the bridegroom coming. Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel were all beautiful, and their husbands loved them, but Isaac and Rebekah are the only two of whom so long and pretty a story is told. <!-- [Page 42](arke:01KFXV0990EHN6CH640SW1RSBK) --> 211 . <!-- [Page 43](arke:01KFXV097N5F6X6PVST84S5EK0) --> 212 Esau Selling his Birthright 213 214 John R. Payton <!-- [Page 44](arke:01KFXV09EJXKSY8FBANPA1Z8XV) --> 215 ^{}[]

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