Lippincotts Magazine, Vol. 22, September, 1878 | Page 7

took pleasure in the
various performances. During the time we remained we beheld not a
movement of applause: not a smile relaxed the grave, stolid features;
there was but a calm gazing and a quiet puffing of smoke from mouth
and nostrils.
A day or two after our arrival we deemed it our duty to call upon the
commandant to thank him for his politeness, and to tell him how well
satisfied we were with our quarters at the Hôtel Bourguignon. Seated
with him we found the great man of the district, the caid, making a
morning call. It was our first introduction to a real Arab gentleman, and
we regretted exceedingly that we could not converse with him in his
own language, the more especially as he was a travelled man. He had
been to Paris, had been received at the Tuileries by the emperor
Napoleon, and had made the grand Mohammedan pilgrimage to Mecca.
But as a conversation with Arabs, conducted as ours was through the
medium of a French interpreter, is necessarily restricted, we had little
opportunity of judging whether or not the mind of the caid
corresponded with his handsome exterior.
[Illustration: ARAB CAMP NEAR BISKRA.]
On my mentioning that I had a great desire to try a camel-ride, the caid
volunteered to send camels for our party, and to see that mine was
properly caparisoned for the comfort and accommodation of a lady; and
also to send his son to attend to my safety. Of course we accepted his
polite offer, and the afternoon of the same day was fixed for the
expedition. Never can we forget the sight which presented itself to our
astonished eyes when we went to our hotel-door at the appointed hour.
There was the lady's camel, with a howdah on its back hung with
curtains of damask and gold. There were the camels for the gentlemen,
each led by its swarthy driver, while alongside a young Arab gentleman
careered upon a white charger with crimson and gold saddle and

trappings, followed by a mounted attendant almost equally magnificent.
To crown the whole, or at least give it state, there were some two or
three hundred Arab spectators. Only once before had such a scene been
witnessed in Biskra, when some years previously the wife of a French
general had visited the oasis.
It was not without considerable difficulty that we got started. The
camels are made to kneel, and thus it is easy enough to mount, but then
begins the ordeal. While the huge beast raises itself on its
double-jointed limbs you undergo a series of painful jerks which
nothing but the most undaunted courage enables you to endure.
Determination, however, overcomes all difficulties, and at last our
cortége was en route. The mounted attendant acted as outrider to clear
the way, while he of the milk-white steed, the caid's son, rode gallantly
by my side.
I could have fancied myself a queen of Sheba or some Eastern houri
screened by silken curtains from the vulgar gaze. What extravagances
my imagination in its pride might have led me into it is impossible to
say, but for the bodily discomfort. The camel is called the "ship of the
desert," but surely no ship ever pitched and rolled so unmercifully. The
howdah too, which was loosely slung upon the creature's back, only
added to the naturally uncomfortable motion. In fact, this cage-like
erection was only kept in its place by ropes attached to it which were
held by two men who walked one on each side. As the thing swung one
way, the man opposite pulled it back, and vice versâ, altogether
regardless of my feelings in the matter.
We have since found out, by experience in Egypt, that these camels
were of what may be called the cart-horse breed, and there is about as
much difference in riding such a one and a properly-trained dromedary
as there is between a dray-horse and a thoroughbred. Thus, if we were
proud of our exaltation, we paid dearly for our pride, and when we
returned from our excursion it was with a feeling of every limb being
out of joint. It was days before we had completely recovered from the
effects of this our first and, as I devoutly hoped, our last camel-ride.
From this time forward the caid's son, who spoke French tolerably well,

paid us almost daily visits, and although he had never been beyond the
bounds of the desert, we have never met with more pleasing,
gentlemanly manners than those of this young Arab.
One afternoon he invited me to pay a visit to the ladies of his family.
These poor creatures are never allowed to go out except into their
high-walled garden, and no male eyes but those of near relatives are