and, under these circumstances, he is said to lose many of his peculiar habits and characteristics. He attains to double the usual size and strength, is more fat and clumsy, consumes large quantities of hay and grain and drink, with nearly the same frequency and copiousness as other beasts of burden.

The camel lies upon his breast, with his legs extended under his body, to receive his burden. He rests in the same posture at night; and, in consequence, this is his natural position, by which he is well adapted for carrying burdens. He utters cries of impatience and anger, on being compelled to kneel down to receive his heavy load, and often starts suddenly to his feet before it is arranged, as if resolved to receive no more, or to throw off what he has. One can but feel sympathy for the reluctant, complaining brute; and, as he rises with his burden, and begins to reel along on his diminutive, misshapen legs, he has the appearance of being a cripple, and seems likely to be crushed to earth in his attempt to travel. He goes on, however, rocking and swinging all day, showing no symptoms of fatigue, and never making a mis-step. He needs constant guiding, where the way is not very broad and quite unobstructed, else he goes down a steep, or thrusts his rider into the thick thorny top of an acacia-tree without ceremony.

Travellers, as might be expected, vary in their accounts as to the cost of labour in riding the camel. The following is Olin's statement (ii. 74) : —'' The usual gait of the camel is a jolting walk. A little urging puts him into a very slow trot, which is decidedly his best gait, occasioning hardly any fatigue, and but little motion, to the rider. A higher degree of speed is obtained at the expense of all comfort. It is quite intolerable to any but a Bedouin; threatening dislocation of the joints, and peril of life. My dromedary, being a bad walker, soon fell into the rear of the caravan, when, held in to that speed, I had a good excuse for returning to the slow, ambling pace which I have described as so agreeable. I became fond of this mode of travelling, and would gladly have retained my dromedary for my journey through Palestine and Syria. I do not think, however, that this was a common feeling in our company, who generally seemed much pleased at the prospect of mounting horses, and proceeding with greater rapidity.'

With the feelings of Dr. Olin's companions those of Dr. Robinson coincided, who says (ii. 632): 'We had now done with camels, and I cannot say otherwise than that I rejoiced at the circumstance. Admirably adapted to the desert regions which are their home, they yet constitute one of the evils which travelling in the desert brings with it. Their long, slow, rolling, or rocking gait,

although not at first very unpleasant, becomes exceedingly fatiguing; so that I have often been more exhausted in riding five and twenty miles upon a camel, than in travelling fifty on horseback. Yet, without them, how could such journeys be performed at all?' The following is Lord Nugent's

account:

'The gait of the beast is as tiresome to the rider as any thing can be, which is not physically fatiguing. It is a very proud and important-looking stride, of vastly slow progress, to every step of which, regular as the pendulum of a clock, the rider, perched aloft on a pack-saddle, which is perched aloft on a hump, is fain to bend, as it were, in respectful acknowledgment. The effect of this is at first very ludicrous, even to the performer. But, after thus stalking and bowing for a certain time across the dead flat of a desert, without a chance, exert himself as he will, of mending his pace, it becomes exceedingly tiresome to him; particularly, oppressed as he is, in beginning his journey at sunrise, with the sense that that pace must continue, unimproved and unvaried, till the setting of the same. To call the camel or the dromedary the "ship of the desert" is a great injustice to the ship of the ocean, whose every movement carries with it a feeling of life and sense, tempered by obedience; while the gait and manners of the other leave a notion only of the involuntary and mechanical. I spoke, a while ago, of the patient, long-suffering expression of the camel's face; but your opinion of the camel will, I think, change, as mine did, upon further and more intimate acquaintance. The truth is, he is but an ill-conditioned beast after all. you took for an expression of patience becomes one of obstinate, stupid, profound self-sufficiency. There is a vain wreathing of the neck, a self-willed raising of the chin on high, a drooping of the lack-lustre eye, and sulky hanging of the lower lip, which to any who have faith in the indications of countenance and action betoken his real temper.

What

Then that very peculiar roar of his, discordant beyond the roar of any other beast, which continues during the process of his being loaded, from the moment that the first package is girded on his back, to when he clumsily staggers up upon his feet to begin his lazy journey, is a sound betraying more of moral degradation than any I ever heard from any other four-legged animal; a tone of exaggerated complaint and of deep hate, which the shape of his open mouth well assorts with. The dromedary is said to be to the camel what the thoroughbred horse is to the back. But he who has ridden a dromedary will never again profane the qualities of the thorough-bred horse by using his name in any such company. The dromedary, it is true, is lighter than the camel, and capable of going much faster;

but in temper and spirit he differs from him in nothing but in being even more obstinate.'

The camel's rigging and appliances for the comfort and safety of the rider, appear forbidding and even appalling; a huge pack-saddle made chiefly of wood and straw padding, without stirrups, and often without a girth, being fastened, in that case, by a rope passed round the breast. A rope halter is used instead of a bridle, and the Bedouins often dispense even with this, guiding the animal with words, and with blows upon the sides of the neck. These equipments appear a little dubious at first; but a traveller soon learns to provide sufficiently for com. fort, or even for luxury. Some doubles in a rope make very good stirrups, where there are so few reasons for consulting show as well as convenience; and the awkward framework of wood and the straw padding, which at the outset offer so little of the appearance or accommodation of a saddle, are soon converted into an eligible and even luxurious seat, by superincumbent mattresses, bedding, cloaks, &c. A female may ride in perfect ease, seated on a broad divan of quilts, Turkey carpets, and soft cushions.

Camels, in many respects, are not unlike sheep. They are a silly, timid animal; gregarious, and when alarmed, like sheep, they run and huddle all together. They are commonly represented as patient; but, if so, it is the patience of stupidity. They are rather exceedingly impatient, and utter loud cries of indignation when receiving their loads, and not seldom on being made to kneel down. They are also obstinate, and frequently vicious; and the attempt to urge them forward is very much like trying to drive sheep the way they do not choose to go. The cry of the camel resembles, in a degree, the hollow bleating of the sheep: sometimes it is like the lowing of neat cattle, or the hoarse squeal of swine. But the Arabs heed not their cries; nor does the poor animal find much mercy at their hands. No little of what they have of bad, may be attributed to ill treatment.

Heavy loads and meagre fare are habitually their portion. God, however, who tempers the storm to the shorn lamb, has hardened the camel to bear his hard destiny. He is by nature a heavy, sullen animal, having little feeling, and little susceptibility for pain. Thistles, briers, and thorns, he crops and chews with more avidity than the softest green fodder; nor does he seem to care for blows or pricks, unless they are very violent.

The camel, as being a common and noticeable animal, became, with the Hebrews, the source of proverbs. In Matt. xix. 24, our Saviour says: -It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God;' intending thereby to represent the great difficulty of the case. A passage in

the Koran shows the meaning of the words: -They who change our signs with falsehood shall not enter into Paradise, until a camel pass through the eye of a needle' (vii.). The Talmudists use, in the same sense, an elephant entering the eye of a needle;' thus: -Perhaps you are of the city Pombeditha, where they send an elephant through the eye of a needle.' Similar to this, is another Rabbinical saying-The eye of a needle is not too narrow for two friends, nor does the amplitude of the world suffice for two enemies.'

Another proverb our Lord took from the camel-Ye blind guides, who strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel,' - intending to charge the Pharisees with being scrupulous in trifling, but neglectful in important matters. After the details that have been given respecting the camel, the reader will appreciate the force of this metaphor, which so vividly describes the readiness of the Pharisees for great and unseemly wicked

ness.

The Arabians were fond of making the camel supply them with proverbs. Thus they said, 'Men are like camels, not one in a hundred is a dromedary;'-'The camel ruminates from its birth,'- denoting the strength and constancy of natural aptitudes.

CAMP (from the German Kampf, combat) represents two kindred Hebrew words: - I. Mahghaneh, which, coming from a root that signifies to bend, incline, settle, and rest, has the further meaning of setting up a tent, or constructing a dwelling; and is hence, as a noun, applied to a tent, or a collection of tents; that is, a host or a camp. It is variously translated in the Scripture: -for instance, in Gen. xxxii. 2, 'host;' 7, 'bands;' 8,' company.' Exod. xiv. 19, 'camp.' 1 Sam. xxix. 1, 'armies.' 2 Kings vii. 16, 'tents.' Whence we see that the term camp denotes either the collected tents of an army, or the army itself. By an easy transition, it came to indicate the place where an army lay. Hence it gave name to localities, as in Judg. xiii. 25; xviii. 12, The camp of Dan,' or Mahghaneh Dan; a passage which shows that each tribe had a camp of its own; that is, mustered its troops apart from the other tribes.

II. The other word rendered' camp,' Tahghanoth, is only a variation of the former, and has a more immediate reference either to the place of the camp, or to the act of encamping (2 Kings vi. 8).

The camp of the Israelites in the wilderness is described in Numb. ii. It was a collection of tents, having the tabernacle (or tent) of the congregation (Exod. xxvi.) in the midst. This tent of the congregation was the sanctuary of the wandering Israelites, and the original of their temple when at length settled in the Land of Promise. In regard to its primitive application, the tent

of the congregation was simply a dwelling; and, as applied to sacred purposes, the dwelling of Jehovah (Exod. xxv. 8). In representing a human abode, it carried the mind back to that first departure from a state of uncivilisation, when men began to quit natural and artificial caverns, and procure for themselves shelter in tents. It thus had about it a practical and homely character, which, blending with associations connected with antiquity, would aid the force of religion, and recommend its appeal to the heart. The tents of the modern Arabs are either circular or longitudinal, in the shape of a parallelogram. Those which have the latter form are divided by curtains into three apartments. The outer receives cattle and servants, the middle receives the males of the family, the third, or farthest, is the retired abode of the women and children. Not unlike this, the tabernacle, which was a parallelogram in shape, consisted of the holy place, separated from the most holy place by a vail of blue, purple, and scarlet, inwrought with figures of cherubim. The holy place contained the table and candlestick. The holy of holies held the ark of the testimony, the mercy-seat, and, before the mercy-seat, the altar of incense. The entire tabernacle, which had a frame-work of acacia wood, was covered with three curtains made of 'linen,'

embroidered with cherubim, of goats' hair,' and 'rams' skins.' A handsome curtain was suspended before the entrance, in front of which stood the altar of burnt-offerings. Between the tabernacle and the altar, was the laver, containing water, with which Aaron and his sons were washed, before they ministered in the priests' office. This altar and this laver stood in the court of the tabernacle; an ample space enclosing the tabernacle, made off by a frame of wood-work covered with curtains, and having a gate or entrance with a hanging suspended before it. When the entire work was finished, the divine approbation was signified in a special manner :-Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle. And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys; but if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of Jehovah was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys' (Exod. xxvi.—xl.).

This tabernacle occupied the centre of the vast Hebrew camp, the centre being always the place of the chief in every oriental camp. A most beautiful system of orderly encampment and of movement was organised on all its sides; presenting to a spectator reason to exclaim in the words which Balaam employed (Numb. xxiv. 2, seq.), when, from the top of Mount Peor, he saw Israel abiding in his tents, according to his tribes:

NORTH.

'How beautiful are thy tents, O Jacob!
And thy tabernacles, O Israel!
As the valleys, are they spread forth;
As gardens by the river's side;

As lign-aloes which Jehovah hath planted;
As cedars beside the waters.'

This tabular view will serve to give the reader a clear idea of the camp in the wilder ness; while, in the lines and intervals which it presents, it affords a commentary on the words which we have just quoted.

WEST.-THIRD DIVISION-CAMP OF EPHRAIM, 108,100.

It will thus be seen, that the centre of this aggregation of human beings was the tabernacle, with its holy of holies, the place where Jehovah made known his will, sheltered and protected on all sides by the embattled tribes of Israel. Enclosing the tabernacle was its court. The court was lined with priests and servants. These, united, formed what may be termed, in a large sense, the sanctuary; on all sides of which stood brave armies, prepared to die in the defence of their holy charge, and inspired, animated, and guided by having in the centre of their host the dwelling-place of Jehovah. The area, between the court of the tabernacle and the camps of the tribes, was

considerable, in order, according to Eastern custom, to indicate deep reverence for the high presence that dwelt in the holy of holies. This area was occupied on the east side by the tents of Moses, Aaron, and Aaron's sons. On the other side, enclosing the tabernacle like a body-guard, stood the Levites in three companies; on the west the Gershonites, on the south the Kohathites, and the Merarites on the north. Beyond this area were the tents of the twelve tribes, who encamped three on each side under their several banners. Three together formed one great camp, named after the leading tribe. Thus on the east was the camp of Judah, consisting of the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and