, 1855-05-19
From the Detroit Advertiser.
The MagicianS Of Egypt.

truth of the inspired narrative. So won
derful are the prCdigies they perform, that
they have been deemed worthy of grave re-
cital in works on Egyptian life and manner,
and Of being vouched for by authors as
things which they saw and heard, but which
they could neither explain nor account for.
And some Of them not only witnessed these
marvellous things, but actually learned how
to perform them, and yet were unable to
give any explanation, only that they did as
they were told, and the result followed.
have not turned aside single footstep
to witness any of their performances, nor
need l, for they are forced upon me in the
street to frightful extent Soon after my
arrival in Cairo, l was sitting beneath the
shade of an Acacia tree, taking lessons in
Arabic from one of my Arab friends, "
when, upon hearing approaching footsteps,
l looked around, and at the next instant l
was full rod from the spot in the opposite
direction, with sentence half spoken on
my lips. ..
As / had turned my eye, man stood
within foot of me, with serpent coiled
around him, whose head protruded directly
toward me, and he was eyeing me as though
he wanted me for meal. besought my
Arab companion TO send the man away in
stantly, which he did. His snakeship was
spotted, like the rattlesnake, but appeared
to be much longer. In two or three in
stances was shocked in a similar manner
These serpents are said to be of the most
venomous kind.
Those who follow this occupation are
called serpent ehOrmsrs, and they go about
among the crowd of foreigners upon the
public promenades in the hope Of picking
up few cOppers from those who have a
taste for such entertainments. One branch
of their profession consists in charming SER
pents away from houses, and insuring ex-
emption from them for price.
But, 0, horrible /! what is that you see
yonder? It is procession Of human be-
ings, with serpents coiled about their necks,
and twisted in their hair, which they tear
and rend with their teeth, without being
harmed by them, uttering yells of religious
ejaculation, meantime, and raving and foam
ing at the mouth, and falling down exhaus-
ted.
Such are the sights to be seen in the
streets of Cairo. They sometimes go SO
far as to eat their victims alive An old
English resident here informed me that he
had seen them perform the horrid act
And they often carry them nesting beneath
their caps, twisted in their hair. Distinct
allusion is made to these charmers in the
Scriptures.
There is branch Of their magic art,
employed to bring hidden things to light
which has been practiced with startling ef-
feet In the process various mummeries
are gone through, such as writing certain
words on naner senarat;ng and orrano;nc
.bsr, hr,n,re, coriardor ond fr.rtiroense
.rd m.L;Dc d;ocrom. n tho IA. 80 -,
which ia denosited fsw d,ons ~ hlooS ;nL
which Is cailed The MAGIC mir,or and into
which . how ,e,sctod ~ rando, IooL. n.
,on.lv and secs auvtbinc coDcorr;Do which
YOU desire information. posting YOU up in
relation thereto, to your hearts content.
Two Of the British Copsuls resident in
Cairo successiyely. have published the re-
suits of their own observations in relation
to the matter. rrayely testifyinO that bav.
inc used avery nrecaptiop against imnosi.
ton making their own selection of the how
who was to reveal the discoveries in the
magic mirror, they propounded questions to