nor did her good disposition and good conduct go unrewarded; those camels shortly after bore her into the Land of Promise, to become the wife of Abraham's son, and one in the line of mothers from whom He should descend, in whom all the families of the earth are blessed. Gen. xxiv. 19-64.

9. The camel is prohibited for food as unclean, Lev. xi. 14. Deut. xiv. 7.

10. Camels are prophetically and figuratively mentioned in the Old Testament. Isaiah (xxi. 7,) predicts the march of Cyrus's army to the conquest and destruction of Babylon in the time of Belshazzar. Isaiah (xxx. 6,) alludes to the folly and presumption of the Israelites, or Jews, or both, who in the time of their trouble carried treasures on camels into Egypt, to purchase the assistance of that people, and acknowledged not the Lord their God, who alone could save and deliver them. Isa. lx. 6, is part of a most sublime prediction, figurative of the purity and enlargement of the church in the reign of the Messiah, when different nations shall with alacrity and zeal dedicate themselves and their substance to the service of God.

Jer. xlix. 29, 32, predicts the confusion and ruin that should befal Kedar and Hazor, enemies of Israel, upon God whom God would bring his judgments by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. The fulfilment of this prediction took place during the captivity of the Jews, and would tend greatly to encourage their hopes that the promises of their deliverance and return should also in due time be accomplished. Very similar is the prediction, Ezek. xxv. 5, that Rabbah, the chief city of Ammon, should be taken as a stable for camels by the Chaldeans.

The swiftness of these animals is incredible, and has given occasion to some very spirited figures in the sacred writings. Thus, Isaiah, describing the terrible devastation which the land of Judea was doomed to suffer by the Assyrian armies, whose horses were probably of the Persian breed, expresses the amazingly rapid movements of their chariots with much beauty and force: Their wheels shall be like a whirlwind,' (ch. v. 28.); as does Jeremiah, also: 'Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles,' ch. iv. 14. The prophet Habakkuk, in describing the same quality of the horse, uses a different figure, but one equally striking: 'Their horses are swifter than the leopards, and more fierce than the evening wolves; and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat,' ch. i. 8.

At a very early period of its history, Egpyt was famous for its breed of horses, as we learn from Exod. xiv. 9; and such appears to have been the excellency of the Egyptian horses in subsequent times, that the prophet Isaiah declares to the Israelites, who were disposed to put their confidence in the time of danger on the resources of Egypt, that 'the Egyptians were men, and not God, and their horses flesh, and not spirit,' chap. xxxi. 3.

In early ages, horses were rare among the Hebrews. The patriachs had none; and after the departure from Egypt, it was expressly forbidden to their ruler to procure them, Deut. xvii. 16. As horses appear to have been generally furnished by Egypt, God prohibited them, 1. Lest there should be such commerce with Egypt as might lead to idolatry. 2. Lest the people might depend on a well appointed cavalry, as a means of security, and so cease from trusting in the promised aid and protection of Jehovah. And, 3. That they might not be tempted to extend their dominion by means of cavalry, and so get scattered among the surrounding idolatrous nations, and thus cease, in process of time, to be that distinct and separate people which God intended they should be, and without which the prophecies relative to the Messiah could not be known to have their due and full accomplishment.

In the time of the Judges, there were horses and war chariots among the Canaanites, but the Israelites were without them; and hence they were generally too timid to venture down into the plains, confining their conquests to the mountainous parts of the country. In the reign of Saul, horse breeding does not appear to have been introduced into Arabia, for, in a war with some of the Arabian nations, the Israelites sold plunder, in camels, sheep, and asses, but still no horses. Solomon was the first among the Hebrews who established a cavalry force, and compared to what is now usual, it was one of very considerable extent, 1 Kings, x. 23. He also carried on a trade in Egyptian horses for the benefit of the crown, 2 Chr. ix. 28.

It is evident from Judges, v. 2; Isa. v. 28; and Amos, vi. 12, that

Or this animal there are two varieties described by naturaliststhe wild and the domestic. The former we pass by for the present, and direct our attention to the latter. The usual appellation by which this beast is distinguished in scripture, is CHEMOR, from a word which signifies to disturb or disorder, and it is so called, probably, from its extraordinary turbulence when excited. The domestic ass being an animal so well known, renders it unnecessary that we should describe its form and appearance. But it must be noticed, that in eastern countries it is larger and much finer in every respect, and so highly is it valued, as to be preferred to the horse for many domestic purposes. Asses are enumerated as constituting part of the riches of Abraham, Jacob, and Job, (Gen. xii. 16; xxx. 43; Job xlii. 12.); and Anah, a Horite prince, did not consider it beneath the dignity of his character to feed the asses belonging to his father Zibeon, Gen. xxxvi. 24. In the reign of David, they were of so much importance that Jedheiah the Meronothite, a prince of Israel, was appointed to superintend the breed, 1 Chron. xxvii. 30. To ride upon an ass was, in the days of the Judges, a mark of distinction, to which it is probable, the vulgar might not presume to aspire. This is evident from the brief notices which the inspired historian gives of the greatness and riches of Jair, the Gileadite, one of the Judges; 'He had thirty sons who rode on thirty ass colts; and they had thirty cities, which are called Havoth-Jair unto this day,' Judges x. 3, 4. Abdon, the Pirathonite, another of the Judges, had forty sons and thirty nephews, who rode on threescore and ten ass colts,' ch. xii. 13, 14. In several of these passages, it should be observed, a particular kind of the domestic ass is spoken of-the ATON-whose value, if we may judge from the circumstances in which we generally find it placed, by far exceeded that of the ordinary description.