ifficulty. Several days were spent in learning to sit
the animals, and there were many spills, but as the sand was deep no
harm came of them, and they caused great amusement to all except the
victims themselves.

The greatest difficulty was the mounting and dismounting, both of which
performances had to be done when the camel was kneeling. In order to
make him kneel it was necessary to tug at the head-rope, at the same
time making a sound like clearing the throat. Then the rope was pulled
at until his head was brought round to his shoulder. This prevented him
from getting up again. The rifle, which was slung in a bucket on one
side behind the rider, was found to render it impossible to get the leg
over, and it consequently became necessary for the man to mount with his
rifle in his hand, and to drop it into the bucket afterwards. As the
camel always rose and lay down with great suddenness, men were, until
accustomed to it, constantly pitched over his head.

"I never want to see a camel again," Edgar grumbled, after one or two
days' exercise diversified by numerous falls; "they are the most
discontented beasts I ever saw."

"I don't mind their growling," a trooper said; "it is the twistiness of
the brutes I hate. When you are looking after a horse you know what he
can do and where he can reach you. Of course if you get behind him he
can kick, but when you are standing beside him all that you have got to
look after is his head, and he cannot bring that round to bite very far.
These brutes can reach all over the place; they can kick at you any way.
They can scratch their ears with their hind legs, and even rub the top
of their humps with it if they are disposed, or scratch themselves under
the chin. Their necks are the same, they can twist them anywhere. They
can bite the root of their tails, and lay their heads back and give them
a rub on the top of their humps. There is no safety with them at all;
and when they come at you growling and roaring with their mouths open
and showing their teeth it is enough to scare you."

"It is fortunate that their hoofs are soft and spongy, so that they
cannot hurt like the kick of a horse," Edgar said.

"Spongy, be blowed!" the trooper replied. "Mine kicked me in the chest
yesterday and I went flying about ten yards, and the breath was knocked
out of my body for a quarter of an hour."

"That was bad, no doubt," Edgar laughed; "but if it had been a horse you
would be in the hospital-