58 WITH THE CAMEL CORPS UP THE NILE.

agates, crystals, garnets, and blood-stones were there in hundreds. Alas ! we knew not their value. One of our men (Woods) used to walk out every afternoon, and come back with a large assortment of what he called diamonds and rubies. We only laughed at him, and called him a fool for his pains ; but long afterwards he decidedly got the laugh of us. On returning to Alexandria with his diamonds he offered one to a jeweller, who gave him 16 for it! He would have made a lot of money if he had sold them all to this man, but preferred trying to sell them in London. The jeweller he went to there, however, informed him they were not of the first water, and were only saleable abroad, where they were made up into third-rate diamond ornaments which would not be looked at in England. To return. Besides these field-days in the eaily morning, there was " stable " duty three times a day.

I maintain now, as I maintained then, that a camel need not and ought not to be groomed like a horse.

By all means get the camel-lines clean, and in as good order as is possible ; give them their forage