The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1861-03-21
in AIgiers.
TERRIBLE PERFORMANCE WITH DNCGERS. sCORrI-
nNs AND RED-HOT .nOvELs.

ONs AND RED-HOT -HOyELS.
\ recent work on Algiers gives the following
account Of some Of the ADJUSTMENTS Of that
lively place and it, vicinage. IL shows that the
Arabs are cleyerer than even our friend Heller.
wEO i astonishing the southern people by his
experiments IN magic.
In q feS moments the ,amborine- were again
in full force. and the shriekinS and yelling were
again repeated, but this time the number Ct dan
GERS was Increased. One of the Arabs took a
sword. and having stripped 10 hIs IONS, ran IT
for nearly q quarter Of an inch into his stomach.
twirling II around 1T the same time like = glm-
let. To i certain degree there was no deception
in this, but the abseuce Of blood aroused my
suspicious that the sword fitted into an old scar
long used for that purpose, especially as IL was
introduced sideways. Then he ran 1t into the
nape Of his neck in the same manner twlr!lng
il around a. before, hut still no blood followed.
The invisible women seemed pleased az this feat,
for another - lu, la. la - awelled around Us.
and then the frantic dancing went on Presently
four or five instruments resembling thick kitchen
shOyels were brought IN red-hOt, and l felt the
sudden glow ON my face as they were taken past
me. When the Arabs beheld these. their cries
changed into another key, and by gestures they
seemed like wild animals eager for food. Each
man took the glowing iron, placed 1t on the
shOrn part Of his head, and then strOked it ca
ressingly with his naked hand. During this
feat there was q sickening smell Of burnt flesh,
diu a -llkhI SMOKE arose from the shiH OI the
performers whenever the rudy metal touched it.
Then, having licked them all over with their
tongues, they placed them between their lips,
holding them firm with their teeth, and leaping
a few moments still higher in tune to the untir-
ing thunder of the tympans.
\ large scorpion was now brought in on one
Of the tamborines, and as | touched it with a
stick IN passant it darted up its poisonous tail,
leaving no doubt of its vitality. One of the
Arabs took up the reptile by its head, placed it
ia his mouth, and swallowed it, making a hor-
rible crunching noise in the process of mastica-
ton. How he escaped the effects of its sting is
more than i can imagine but at all events. the
unnatural meal seemed to give him new life for
the maddening orgies. One of the dancers now
stepped forward with a dagger about a foot in
way Just over the eyeball, and walked about
length. and lifting up his eyelid, thrust IL in some
with the weapon thus apparently sticking out of
his eye. Then he drew 1t slowly out, and the
host, at my request, having handed ii 10 me for
examination, ] found that it was sharp us a
needle, and perfectly solid. The voices Of the
women, at this period, were louder than | heard
them before, and so long did the shrill applause
continue that the Arabs looked up hastily, and
said Hush" in the same sort of contempt
uOus tone with which the charity school master
endeavors to stop the clatter of his refractory
pupils, and the Obedient chorus instantly subsi-
ded. Half Il dozen cactus leaves were now
brought In, and the moment the dancers per
ceived them they left off their frantic gestures,
and grOveled like dogs, on their hands and knees.
The African cactus, or Barbary fig, grows
around Algicrs into a regular tree of twelve feet
or so in heighth, and the leaves are large in pro-
portion, being generally about a foot long and
half an inch thick, and are very thickly covered
with strong pricklcs of an inch in length. These
prickles are as thick as a drugget-pin at the base,
and very firm. 30 that the handling OF the leaf
is 4 matter of difficulty and pain. and should the
point of the prickle break in so doing, it forces
itself beneath the skin and causes excruciating
agony. The Arabs crawlcd adroitly toward the
man who held the leaves, baying like the dogs
they initiated, and as he held one forth they
thrust their heads forward and took rapid bites,
deyOuring it, seemingly, without the slightest
inconvenience. The green fluid expressed from
the herb flowed In streams over their long boards,
and ] noticed that when they accidentally
touched each other they gave q low growl, like
ours who are gorging. The applause of the in
visible ladies was great, but by no means as en-
thusiastic as before the tambOrines were again
silent, and the performers fell to the ground, a.
If the superhuman stimulus To their e~xertiOns
had been removed. / drew a deep breath asI
left the house, like one who has. by a timely
awakening, been relived from the incubus Of
some terrible nightmare, and 49, | threaded
again the narrow streets, the delicious night air
cooled and refreshed me.