Nobody was anxious for him because he had a camel and knew the country.
-Robert Graves, Lawrence and the Arabs, 1927
A bit like flying a good airplane or sailing a good boat, knowing the lay of the land or the contour of the coastline. Whenever a lone camel rider crossed paths with us and we sat down with him for a palabra, and then he set off again into the desert, we all knew that he knew he could get to wherever he was going safely, as long as he stayed in the saddle.