A SULTAN AND A CAMEL

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 22, 26 January 1929, Page 15

A SULTAN AND A CAMEL

Ono day Ibn Saud, Sultan of Nejd, ruler of three million Arabs, sat on the sand, which, he calls the finest carpet in tho world.

He had come with a great retinue to discuss affairs of Sta.te with tho High Commissioner of Irak. Many warriors and black servants and a host of camels were in the Sultan's'train, but there was no luxury in his camp. The Sultan was uneasy in his mind, because ho believed the.British Government would try to make liiui sign a treaty he had no wijsh to sign, and he spoke much" of politics to'his friend Anieen Eihani as "they sat waiting on the sand at Ojair. . . By arid by" a caravan' eatoe in with water 'and "vegetables ' from" Al Hasa. Another niau talking as veh,erneiij;ly. of politics and' w;ar miglit have' seen it with "ah Unseeing eye" but' the ruler of a people must iioticc .evcrytliing, and the Sultan saw that oue of the camels had been ill-used.' " ' .

• He broke off his discourse and demanded to see the hoacjman of the caravan. ' When' the fellow approached the Sultan asked: "What is the matter vrith that camel yonder?" . ' " . ' The man replied: "o'Thou'Long of Days, it is vicious and obstinate ——" He was out short. ""Then do not take'it back to Al Hasa. Turn it but to pasture with my camels here."

As the' jitan' •jyeijt "the' Sultan said to Ameen Eihani: "Our justice " .begins with-the'camel. He" who is not just to' the camerivill"not be'just to rne'ri. ",

An Pasha jia^said that the palm and'the'camel'sire- the father and.mpther of 'the' Ar'^'b',' and Tie would like;*tb cut down all the palms and kill all the .camels ' in.' order to make " las people work. They' might irrigate waste lands .and grow splendid: crops, but' they are too lazy to plough and plant while the palm will give; them -dates and the camel will give them ■niilk.- ■ A wonderful sight, is the great camel market at Buraidah, packed with dealers from all parts of Syria, Arabia, and even Egypt. At this market those who seek amount will pay 30 or 40 gold pounds sterling for a thoroughbred. The creatures can be very beautiful with their graceful necks, gazelle-like eyes;, and coloured trappings. 1 ■ '• A foreigner can soon see the differenco between camel and camel, but it takes an Arab to know the difference between their hoof prints. • • Ameen Rihani tells of a shepherd who .lost a sheep from the flock and saw in the distance a man on a camel hastening away with something like a sheep for baggage. The shepherd followed its tracks to > a village and laid his complaint before the sheik. ■ ■

"Bring forth all the camels," said the sheik, and the shepherd examined the footprints till ho came on those-re- 1 si'mbling those ho had tracked. :■ ■ ' "The man who rodo this camel stole my sheep," he declared; and the guilty one confessed. He was ordered -to give the shepherd a sheep and a camel to atone for his crime; if he had come before a sterner sheik he would have lost his right hand also. ' Arab justice is a stern thing, but it is the'same for tho Sultan's son as the beggar, and it includes the camel.' ■ ■