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I

WHY IS ARABIA TOPSY-TURVY LAND?

On this big round earth there are all sorts of countries and peoples. Men
walk on it on every side just like flies crawling over a watermelon and
they do not fall off either. On the next page you can see how they travel
all around the world; some in steamships, some in carriages or on horses,
some in jinrickshaws and some in the railway coaches. In Topsy-turvy Land
they have no railroads and not even waggon-roads or waggons. A horse or a
camel or a donkey is used for passengers and the camel caravan is a
freight train.

Or if you wish, the camel is a topsy-turvy ship which sails in the sand
instead of in the water. It is called the ship of the desert. The masts
point down instead of up; there are four masts instead of three; and
although there are ropes the desert-ship has no sails and no
rudder--unless the rudder be the tail. When the ship lies at anchor to be
loaded it feeds on grass and the four masts are all snugly tucked away
under the hull. In Arabia you generally see these ships of the desert in a
long line like a naval procession, each battleship towing its mate by a
piece of rope fastened from halter to tail! But not only is the mode of
travel strange in Topsy-turvy Land, even the time of the day is all upside
down. When the boys and girls of America are going to bed the boys and
girls of Arabia are thinking of getting up. As early as four o'clock by
western time the muezzin calls out loud from the top of the minaret (for
Moslem churches have no steeples and no bells) to come and pray. Arabs
count the hours from sunrise. It is noon at six o'clock and they breakfast
at one; at three o'clock in the evening all good boys and girls are
asleep.

[Illustration: MODES OF TRAVEL.]

In Topsy-turvy Land all the habits and customs are exactly opposite to
those in America or England. For instance when a boy enters a room he
takes off his shoes but leaves his hat on his head. I do not know whether
we should call it a _hat_, however. His hat has no rim and is not made of
felt or straw, but is just a folded handkerchief of a large size and
bright colour with a piece of cord to hold it wound round his head--a sort
of a hat in two pieces. The girls go without shoes but carefully cover
their pretty (or ugly) faces with a black veil.

At home you eat with a spoon or use a knife and fork. Here the Arabs eat
with their fingers; nor do they use any plates or but