TRIALS OF STRENGTH

They will draw daggers as they ride along and scratch their
own locks unabashed.

The rifle of a mounted Arab is generally carried in one
hand across the animal's back; Rashidi saddles lend them-
selves to packing it; with a Murra saddle it leans up rakishly
from a bucket, its bunches of tasselled thongs flapping
merrily to the jogging. The Badu is a cheerful companion,
generally humming some chant to himself. Occasionally he
will burst forth double forte without any warning to his
companions, who seem, however, always appreciative.
Sometimes two would sing a duet, in unison of course.
These chants vary between tribes; I was curious to record
every one I heard so far as European notation1 would allow.
At other times they engaged each other in trials of strength,
attempting to unseat one another while on the march, the
loser's penalty being a ten-foot drop on to the sands.

Hamad, my rabla^ was the strong man among them, and
I had one or two indecisive tussles; then we tried a wrestling
match with no better results, though I was head and
shoulders the taller.

To dismount, a Badu will not normally couch his camel
but side-slip off her, so also to mount, he will clamber up a
fore-leg while she is on the move, gripping it just above the
knee between his big and second toe, hauling himself up
over her neck and thence vaulting round by means of the
hump into a sitting position.

With such acrobatics were my smaller zoological speci-
mens often collected. Now and again there would be a
shout from behind, ^narnuna, Sahib, namunaV* An Arab

1 See Appendix VI.

2 namuna~& specimen. With the Badu it often became lumuna or some-
times just muna^ which is illustrative of the resilience of the desert tongue.

[287]