Yesterday insufferably hot, & this continued till about 6 am this morning, when I felt the need of a blanket on the bed. Flies & mosquitoes still very bad.

Unbearably hot all day. Apparently this is very unusual for the time of year.

Camel cub supposed to be about 6 months old is already about 5’ high. They are still sucking when quite a considerable size. Contrary to what I had been told, camels appear to be fairly tractable, as after changing owners they behave quite normally, only the young ones having a tendency to take fright. They vary not only in size & colour (whit to almost black, the latter being usually small), but also in the nature of their coats, which are sometimes curly, sometimes smooth, a few camels having a sort of beard all down the neck. They have very little smell.

Horses are sometimes excellent in appearance, always uncastrated. Arab saddle like Mexican, but the Arabs ride with rather short stirrups. The stirrup is a long flat piece of steel with sharp corners which serve as spurs.

The Arabs do not sit very gracefully in the saddle, but have complete mastery of the horse, which goes forward, changes pace & stops all with a loose rein & apparently mostly from the man’s voice. The mule is always ridden on the hindquarters. It is evident that the tractability of animals here is due to their being constantly handled from childhood.