The songs of the Arab of the desert are about the camel, as one of the most beautiful created beings; the remarks of the British soldier about his camel are not suited to ears polite! Who is right and who is wrong?
-A Manual of the Diseases of the Camel and of his Management and Uses, John Henry Steel, 1890
Once when particularly peeved at my camel, I shouted at him, Ya Humār, O Donkey, and I got the strangest look from Idris, who had just finished singing a love song to his camel, O Rocket of Sudan, Like a fish sleek and tasty.