Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 July 1885 — A Camel Race at Dongola. [ARTICLE]

A Camel Race at Dongola.

Pony races and foot races appealed but little tp the native mind, but a camel race, open to all comers, was a matter of the warmest interest to all, both Englishmen and natives. The Mudir himself, who, with a large following, attended the meeting, was most enthusiastic on the subject of this race, apd had entered his best camej for it, his example being followed by the owners of all the best camels in Dongola. The scene at the starting point was quaint in the extreme. Camels were there of every size and hue, bellowing one and all as though in direst agony; some of them bestridden by English soldiers on their red leather saddles, some by officers who preferred the comfor.able Soudan saddle, Some by naked Bischari or Abebdeh, sons of the desert, who, riot unfr&quently, disdaining saddles of any kind, sat perched on the rump of the animal? and guided their beasts by the nostril string alone. Here and there among the crowd were Bashi-Bazouks on slim-necked, slenderlegged animals, rich accouterments showed that their owners found war a paying trade,and town-folk who, perched on their light wooden saddles, their long robes bound closely around their waists, intended, evidently, to make & desperate struggle for victory. At last, profiting by a moment when all the competitors seemed to be in line—a result to obtain which had taken some three-quarters of an hour—the signal was given to go, and the camels started. Then some trotted, some galloped, some toraed themselves round and

round seeking to tie themselves in knots and refusing to ■ move forward, others threw themselves on the ground and rolled their riders oft, and one or two, disengaging themselves from the crowd, started off in a mad break-neck gallop toward the hills, their riders, albeit wild sons of the desert, unable to do more than cling to the beasts for dear, life. Every now and then-oc-curred a terrific collision between two eager competitors, which flung both camels and riders to the ground. As the beasts rounded the turning post the confusion became proportionate to the excitement. Many camels never got round the post at all, but fell to fighting with one another on the far side of it, in which conflict their riders, when natives, soon took part with right good will. Others sought to cheat, diminishing the distance by a hundred yards or so, but these defaulters were promptly “spotted” and hounded off the course by the watchful stewards. The winner was greeted, as he passed the post, by stfch cheers as completely disconcerted the poor brute, and had not his rider warily forestalled him he would have turned back in flight from before the crowd of spectators. The race was a good one, and one of the most interesting features about it was the fact that, although the winning camel was ridden by a native, the English soldiers, whose acquaintance w.th camels dated from but a fortnight, seemed to hold their own very fairly against the natives, who were, so to speak, born and bred camel-riders. As to knowledge of the hribits of the brute and adaptability to a long journey, the superiority of the native is, of course, incontestable; btSt'at this short trial of speed the Englishmen showed themselves not much his inferiors.; — London Times.