The Mountaineer. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1859-1861, 1860-12-15
TERRIBLE PERFORMANCES
Il: WITH DAGGERS. SCORPIONS,
!: AND RED.HoT sII0yELs. .s@

erte = d. =
NJ A AEcEsr work On a Igiers gives lht
following account Of come Of the annse-
.meuts Of that lively place and its vicinity,
"In. u few moments the tainb0riaes were
again In full force, and the slirickiug aud
yelling were again repeated, but this tina
the uuniber Of dancers was increased, Que
Of the Arabs took sword, aud having
stripped to his loins. ran II for nearly a
quarter Of an inch into bis stomach, tWirl-
ing Il round at the same tune like q gimlet
To acertAin degree there was no decsIe
ton in this, bnt the absence Of blood
reused my suspicions that the sword fitted
into an old scar long used for the pur.
pose, especially NJ it was introduced side
Ways Then he ran il into the nape OF
bis neck in the same manner, tWiriing II
round NJ before, but still no blood follow
cd. The invisible women seemsd pleased
ct this feat, for another au, 10, in!' swell
cd around Us, and thea the frantic darcing
went on, Presently four or Eve instfu.
ments, resembling thick, kitchen shoseis,
were brought In red-hot, and 1 felt the
sudden glow on my face ~ they were
taken past me- WlIen the Arabs beheld
these their cries changed into smother
key, and by their gestures they seemed
like Wild aninala eager for food. Each
man took the glowing iron; plaesd il on
the shorn part Of bis head, and then
stfoksd il earcssingiy with his naked
hand. During this feat there WAS sick.
ening smell Of burned flesh, and . slight
smoke arose from the skin OF the perform
ers whenever the ruddy metal touched II.
Then, having licked them oil over with
their tongues they placed them between
their lips. holding them firm with their
teeth, and leaping for . few moments still
higher in time to the untiri1g thunder Of
the tympaha. A large scorpion was now
brought in on one Of the tambouriues, and
as / touched il with . stick en- passant
| II darted MP its poisonous tail, leaving no
doubt as 10 its vitality. One Of the ARABIA
took up the reptile By its head, placed it
in his mouth, and swallowed IL, making u
horrible crunehing noise in the process of
lmastication. How be escaped the effects
Of its sting 10 more than l can imagine;
bat, at all eTents, the unnatural meal
seemed to give him new life. for the mad.
dening orgies One of the dancers nov
stepped forward with dagger about q
foot in lsugth. and lifting up his eyelid,
thrust il some way in Just over the eve.
bail, and walked about with the weapon
thus apparently sticking out OF his eye.
| Thea he drew il slowly out, and the host,
at my request, having handed it to me
for examination, / found that ii was sharp
as: . needle aud perfectly solid. The
voices OF the women at this period were
louder than i had heard them before, and
so long did the shriIl applause coatinns
that the Arabs looked up hastily and said
hush in the saDs sort of eontemptIous
tone with which a charity school master
endeayors to stop the elattsr Of lis re-
fractory pupils, and the 0bedient chorus
Instantly subsidized, Half-a.dozen caetpS,
leaves were nov brought IN, aud tue mo-
meut the dancers perceived them they left
of their frantic gestures aud groyelied
like dogs on their hands and knees Tie
African cactus. or Barbsry fg. grows
round Algiera into a regular tree Of IL
! feet or so ia height, and the leaves are
large in proportion. being generally about
q sSot long and half an inch thick, and ere