Camel caravan

“ To “vagabond” with a camel caravan would be the very ideal of a simple life. The life of a caravan to-day is as it was in Bible times, except that one carries a “Smith and Wesson” or a “Colt” instead of a spear.
The following essential facts apply to all the camel caravans making their respective ways from the coast towns of the northern provinces down into the Soudan and the Sahara. The caravan usually makes its day’s journey between wells, or at least plans to stop at a source of water at night rather than push on ”

“ Some were already loaded, and were pausing for the rest. I know not how long it requires for the completing of a caravan. But it seems that when some camels are loaded they are taken to the outside space, and are kept watch over until all of the others are ready. It must be no small or brief matter to get a caravan ready. Then, when the last camel is laden, and he takes his place in the caravan, and the signal is given to move on, what a commotion it makes! Friends come down to see their friends off. It is the moving off of many people, and of vast treasures of merchandise. ”

“ Our caravan consists of 19 camels and 15 men. The guide is a strong, bold fellow, thoroughly up to his business, and evidently enjoys commanding his men. The camels get only 21⁄2 quarts of dourra a day, carry about 400 lbs. each, and are expected to go without water till we reach Murrat. Our water supply is to last us till we reach the Nile at Aboo-Hamed, as the water at Murrat is not drinkable. How brightly the stars shine out here. The stillness of the desert soon rests upon the camp, broken only by the occasional growl of a camel, and the snoring of the men. ”

“ No matter if raiders, or the deadliest enemies of war, are at hand, the message of a camel-camp on the move goes out into the night unfettered—and the risk recognised.
One by one garrulous camels are released from knee-ropes that have kept them down, obedient to the task of loading, and rise from the sand to stand in dim outline, ready for the road, tall and gaunt, with jutting side-burdens.
Half an hour has passed, and still the caravan is not ready. It is foolish to be impatient. The groping work of the men in the dark seems provokingly slow ”

“ When travelling with a caravan, it is usual to commence to load up before daylight and get well started on the way before sunrise, which is about 6.30 a.m., or—especially if there be a moon—to make a start at 2 or 3 a.m. in the night, and travel the greater part of the day’s journey free from the rays of the exhausting sun. On such occasions the camels are gathered in at sundown on the eve before from browsing among the acacias, and made to lie down by the camp-fire, so that they are at hand when the camel-men go to work in the darkness. ”

“ The camels used for caravan purposes were not the small ones the Arabs were accustomed to, but the large ones, on which alone, at that time, at any rate, was it customary to travel in cradles, one cradle slung each side of the camel. They were comfortable, these cradles; comfortable enough to sleep in, hooded and lined to defend the traveller from sun and weather, with a secret pocket in the seat for valuables. The camels themselves were protected against the evil eye by charms written by dervishes slung round their necks in leathern bags ”

“ Our caravan left Leet in the evening, and we began our march into the desert. Most of the camels carried only burdens, especially water, ammunition, the machine guns, and provisions. The water prospects for our journey were far from favorable. I had to [163] reckon with the possibility of traveling for days without being able to replenish our water supply.
A journey on camels is necessarily a slow one. To begin with, the camel is not a speedy traveler; furthermore, ours was a caravan of ninety camels at the start, and later, of one hundred and ten. ”

“ During the summer, when the camels are required to find their own sustenance along the road, a large caravan travels but a wretched eight miles a day, the remainder of the time being occupied in filling his capacious thistle and camel-thorn receptacle; this comes of the scarcity of good grazing along the route, compared with the number of camels, and the consequent necessity of wandering far and wide in search of pasturage, rather than because of the camel's absorptive capacity, for he is a comparatively abstemious animal. ”

“ The extraordinary scent of the camel enables him to discover water at a great distance; and thus, in the wildest regions of the desert, the caravan is often preserved from destruction by this instinct. In the neighbourhood of wells, such as are found in the Hadj routes, the camels, after passing rocky districts, that fatigue them more than several days' march upon the plains, surfeit themselves with water. This renders them still weaker, and they often perish. Camels' carcases are as frequently found and in the accustomed roads as in the deserts ”

“ A caravan from Yemen bringing in hides for American kid shoes
There are two lessons we can learn from the camel, and I think all the boys and girls who read this chapter will like to know them. The first is, how to bear a burden and never complain. The secret of carrying this burden you will see when the caravan prepares for the long journey. Every camel kneels down to receive its load in the morning; every camel kneels down to have its load taken off in the evening. And that is why he is able to carry his burden to the end of the desert road. ”

“ Only to one kind of animal has the Armenian caravan-horse a natural hatred and strong aversion—namely, to the camel, who, on his side, detests the horse. Even in caravans composed of both kinds of beasts, long accustomed to each other’s presence, this antipathy endures. Horses and camels, if left in any degree to their own free will, go separately to pasture. Long habit of being together restrains them from hostile outbreaks, but I never witnessed, during the whole period of my Oriental travels, an example of even a tolerably good understanding between them. ”

“ They are let loose on arrival at a camp, and they drift away in search of lichens or other shrubs. At sunset they are driven back to camp, where they kneel down and ruminate to their hearts' content until it is time for the caravan to start. The heavy wooden saddles with heavy padding under them are not removed from the camel's hump while the journey lasts, and each camel has, among other neck-ornaments of tassels and shells, one or more brass bells, which are useful in finding the camels again when strayed too far in grazing. ”

“ A caravan, or passenger and freight train of camels, travels fifty or more miles a day across the burning sand and rocky hills of the deserts of Sahara and Arabia. So the helpless baby camel is put into a hammock, and swung from one side of a big, two-humped freight camel. The nurse may carry half a ton of other things beside,—leather bags of water, bales of cloth and dates, jugs of oil and blocks of rock salt. All day long the nurse swings along at a rocking gait. The baby must feel much as a human baby feels when rocked in a cradle. ”

“ These serve as watering-places to the men, as well as to feed, refresh and replenish the hardy and patient camel. At each of these cultivated spots, the caravan sojourns several days, and then proceeds on its journey, until it reaches another spot of the same description. In the intermediate journeys, the hot winds, denominated shume, or simoom, are often so violent and penetrating, as considerably, if not entirely, to exhale the water carried in skins by the camels for the use of the passengers and drivers. ”

“ The camel can become a very affectionate beast and very devoted to his master. Well-trained trotting-camels or hejins refuse to get up with anybody on their back but their own master.
As a rule the water is carried on the older and wiser camels, who go sedately with no attempt to frolic. They realize that they are carrying the most valuable asset of the whole caravan, and therefore, the moment the day’s trek is over and we are at the hour of unloading, these older and wiser camels stand apart from the rest for fear the sheepskins they are carrying be bumped. ”

“ In the softest parts the caravan absolutely came to a standstill, being quite unable to make any progress without assistance. I had to put one man on either side of each camel, and make them take the weight of the loads on their backs, and lift them up with every step that the camels gave, in order to get them along at all. ”

“ So absolutely regular is this pace that distances on the desert are measured by caravan hours, and the average day’s journey is six caravan hours or fifteen miles. Racing camels, however, which are an Arabian breed, specially bred for speed, have been known to carry a traveler as much as a hundred miles a day, but these are seldom used in caravans.
Perry had not been in the camel-saddle more than about half-an-hour before he began to feel as though he were sea-sick. ”

“ A loaded camel seldom exceeds two miles and a half per hour; at this rate nearly ten hours would be consumed upon the road daily, during which time the traveller would be exposed to the intense heat of the sun, and to the fatigue inseparable from a long and slow march. A servant mounted upon a good hygeen should accompany him with the coffee apparatus and a cold roast fowl and biscuits; the ever necessary carpet should form the cover to his saddle, to be ready when required; he then rides far in advance of the caravan. ”

“ I now encounter the first really great camel caravans, en route to Persia with tea and sugar and general European merchandise; they are all camped for the day alongside the road, and the camels scattered about the neighboring hills in search of giant thistles and other outlandish vegetation, for which the patient ship of the desert entertains a partiality. Camel caravans travel entirely at night during the summer. Contrary to what, I think, is a common belief in the Occident, they can endure any amount of cold weather, but are comparatively distressed by the heat ”

“ The loads are being adjusted before my caravan starts on its long trek across the Sahara. All baggage has to be securely bound with rope to the pack-saddle, as the camel has a playful way of ridding himself of a load by shaking his unwieldy frame, by kicking violently with his grotesque hind-legs, or by rubbing the offending package vigorously against a neighbour’s flanks until he succeeds in dislodging it. ”

“ This duty of holding camels in an emergency is not popular, and this will be an incentive to the men to try and shine at the target practices.
The natural habit of Somális when marching with a caravan is for the two or three camelmen who are required to lead the strings of camels to be with them, while the bulk of the men either lead the way or lag behind with the last camel. The camel makadam should be among these, and whenever a camel falls or shifts its load it is Somáli etiquette for every man near to run up to its assistance. ”

“ Some had room enough and managed to do so; others were in places so narrow, with steep rocks so close to the path, that it was a pure impossibility for a camel to turn. Many camels absolutely refused to try, sinking to their knees; two or three tried, toppled over their clumsy feet, and fell, increasing the horrible confusion as they crashed below.
I realized now that the caravan could neither move upwards nor downwards. If only Commander Duckworth and his people could come quickly the whole of these rifles and ammunition would be theirs. ”

“ Those which are used for speed alone are capable of travelling from 60 to 90 miles a day: Instead of employing blows or ill-treatment to increase their speed, the camel-drivers sing cheerful songs, and thus urge the animals to their best efforts. When a caravan of camels arrives at a resting or halting-place, they kneel, and the cords sustaining the loads being untied, the bales slip down on each side. They generally sleep on their bellies: In an abundant pasture they generally browse as much in an hour as serves them for ruminating all night, and for their support during the next day. ”

“ Our caravan drew up in the courtyard of the house, and the baggage was transferred from the camels to several curious-looking carts, built expressly for the road through the mountain-pass to Kalgan, a distance of some sixty miles. It was well on in the afternoon by the time our preparations were complete and we were ready to start again. I forgot to mention that my cart still remained with us, though it was now only a camel telega in name, for, instead of a “ship of the desert,” two diminutive mules were harnessed tandem fashion in the shafts. ”

“ When we met the first camel-driver, we asked him how far it was from White Enclosure. “You see here,” said he with a grin, “one end of our caravan; the other extremity is still within the town.”
“Thanks,” cried we; “in that case we shall soon be there.” “Well, you’ve not more than fifteen lis to go.” “Fifteen lis! why you’ve just told us that the other end of your caravan is still in the town.” “So it is, but our p. 133caravan consists of at least ten thousand camels.” “If that be the case,” said we, “there is no time to be lost: a good journey to you, and peace,” and on we went. ”

“ The Souakin caravans, like those of the Hedjaz, are accustomed to travel in one long file; the Egyptians, on the contrary, march with a wide extended front; but the former method is preferable, because if any of the loads get out of order, they can be adjusted by leading the camel out of the line, before those behind have come up; in the latter case, the whole caravan must stop, when any accident happens to a single camel. The caravans from Bagdad to Aleppo and Damascus, consisting sometimes of two thousand camels, marching abreast of each other, extend over a space of more than a mile. ”