isshapen trunk;
but, above all, the huge hunch rising above the shoulders, at once
proclaimed the creature to be a dromedary.

"Och! it's only a kaymal!" cried Old Bill, as soon as the daylight
enabled him to get a fair view of the animal. "What on hearth is it
doin' 'ere?"

"Sure enough," suggested Terence, "it was this beast that stepped over
us while we were asleep! It almost squeezed the breath out of me, for it
set its hoof right upon the pit of my stomach."

"The same with me," said Colin. "It sunk me down nearly a foot into the
sand. Ah, we have reason to be thankful there was that drift-sand over
our bodies at the time. If not, the great brute might have crushed us to
death!"

There was some truth in Colin's observation. But for the covering of
sand,--which acted as a cushion,--and also from that which formed their
couch yielding beneath them, the hoof of the great quadruped might have
caused them a serious injury. As it was, none of them had received any
hurt beyond the fright which the strange intruder had occasioned them.

The singular incident was yet only half explained. They saw it was a
camel that had disturbed their slumbers; that the animal had been on its
way up the ravine,--perhaps seeking shelter from the sand-storm; but
what had caused it to return so suddenly back down the slope? Above all,
why had it made the downward journey in such a singular manner? Obscure
as had been their view of it, they could see that it did not go on
all-fours, but apparently tumbling and struggling,--its long limbs
kicking about in the air, as if it was performing the descent by a
series of somersaults.

All this had been mysterious enough; but it was soon explained to the
satisfaction of the four castaways, who, as soon as they saw the camel
by the bottom of the gorge, had rushed down and surrounded it.

The animal was in a recumbent position,--not as if it had lain down to
rest, but in a constrained attitude, with its long neck drawn in towards
its forelegs, and its head lying low and half-buried in the sand!

As it was motionless when they first perceived it, they fancied it was
dead,--that something had wounded it above. This would have explained
the fantastic fashion in which it had returned down the slope,--as the
somersaults observed might have been only a series of death struggles.

On getting around it, however, they perceived that it was not only still
alive, but in perfect health; and its late myster