24 SELECT POETRY

Where the hot air is not stirred
By the wing of singing bird,
There thou goest, untired and meek
Day by day, and week by week,
With thy load of precious things—
Silks for merchants, gold for kings,
Pearls of Ormuz,! riches rare,
Damascene? and Indian ware—
Bale on bale, and heap on heap—
Freighted like a costly ship !3
And when week by week is gone,
And the traveller journeys on
Feebly ; when his strength is fled,
And his hope and heart seem dead,
Camel, thou dost turn thine eye
On him kindly, soothingly,
As if thou wouldst, cheering, say,

« Journey on for this one day—
Do not let thy heart despond !
There is water yet beyond !
T can scent it in the air—
Do not let thy heart despair !”
And thou guid’st the traveller there.

Camel, thou art good and mild,

Docile as a little child;

Thou wast made for usefulness,

Man to comfort and to bless;

And the desert wastes must be

Untracked regions but for thee!

Mary Howitt.
} Ormuz—a gulf in Asia, noved for its pearl fishery,

* Dumascene ware—goods from Damascus in Syria,
3 The Arabs call the Camel “the Ship of the Deecst.”