The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1870-03-02
rhe Prephe,.. ,.II.,haa, a calro.

took place to-day, and the PROSTATE bodesof fanat-
be- were ridden over BY the Shiek OF Bekree, live
snakes we're eaten, glass crunched and swallowed,
bodies slashcd with swords. checks and breasts
qierccd with sharp metal Instruments, which were
len sticking IN the wounds they made, and hundreds
81 men and BOYS shrieed and wrthed, and wresiled,
IN what professed 10 be a mad ecstasy OF religious
fcrror- Al this was gore through in the public
streets. IN broad daylight, and in Che presence OF as
many lookers-ou as could be crammed into the mar
r0E tIOronghfarc, a. eond crowd together oa the
81 roof, couf1 see from thu windows Of the
hou-es, OF Al the grziings Of the mosque at which
thc festival eliminated. Oh -
in the year 995 Of the Hegira a D., 1855 Sultan
Murad SHOWN 70 o. Amurath Ill, Instituted the
strange fetc IN honor of Mohammeo's birthday which
which b. 20 iirilc known and rarely seen by Eu-
ropeans Under lis title Of the Dosehi is, however,
looked forward 10 all through the twelve months by
ccrout folioWers Of the Prophet and though some
serefnr below the surface of the life here Is neces
Eary before stranger gain information concern
Ing %. fitting credentials and determination TO go
tlrol-h whatever may be necessary for the compre
hensc oi Moharnnedanism as il exists in the capt
TAI 81 Egypt now, arc, as has been proved to-day,
sufficient % spectacle which Is not a little
siGriiug 20 The sujourner accustomed TO the Euro
pean aspect q the Franksquare, or fresh from the
fashionable dresses aud handsome mordern equipa-
es 81 TIC acacia shaded, ebordered Shoobra road
The chief performers were of the rank called
'e,reet Arabs al home; though here and there
men oi grade higher first wound themselves down
with tie rest There were few minutes Of indie
thar human body laid across il in the middle touch
81 the feet Of those standing each side When
fTo ~ three hundred people lay down n once they
were cuted and sorted admonshed with sticks,
Wei-e1 IN. and arranged, unIh the heads were all
one WY, and the naked legs and feet another in reg
ular lue- There was little ceremony now. What
sounded uncOmmonly like good stiff oaths in Ara
BIC were shTieked at the men lying down and sticks
ava the-k@od Eerc again. freely used upon them.
h-1hWhiie the excitement increased all round.
some spectators chanied prayers monotonously;
Van hl~f final hv
force and others again seemed TO regard the whole
proceedings with just the sort of amused curiosity
one would give 70 the prelimnaries OF clever and
exceptional acrobaiic feat The live figures on the
ro11Wag below Us were near our elevated chairs
that We could have touched them with our umbrel-
Las without rising. They lay with their faces down
wards. and on their stomacbs and were, thanks to
thr care labor Of the holy who had lugged and
cuded them into place, thckly aud neatly packed
a. % suggest the layer of sardine box, or Norfolk
bifns As seen caked together in the shops of Con
vent Garden. II clear that there could be no
evasion nov. and that unless they got up and
rln away the Shieks horse would trample them
under foot according to programme. Yet those
eNcludcu from want OF space walled piteously
and Que ragged rdemoniac of twenty, whose
Eifie Wfap Of coarse brown CLOTH like the skin Of
q wild animal, recalled John the Baptist in the will
dcrurss, broke from his holders with mad howl
and burrOwng head foremost like rabbit, in the
hrulan pavement, succeeded in wedging himself in
Wherc extra inch bad seemed impossible. Des
pite the cat aud dried character of many of these
arrangements there was plenty of genuine emotion.
The faces 81 those waiting TO be tEOd on were hid
deu by their attitude, but their naked legs twitched
more aud more eonvulsively as the music heralding
the Shelk drew nearer; and though the better dres
sed among the native loOkers-on were impassiye,
aud in ssue Instances jocnlar the affair was sufi-
cIeuiiy serious 10 make the European eyewitnesses
bold Their breath and grow pale. Between them
and the oflciators IN the ceremony were number
Of the Niceroy's khavasses, who, not content with
passiveiy guarding the foreigners from the possible
impulses Of excited fanatics, insisted acting
faces second time, on letting every concerned
know that infdels studying the affair with Gu
nous eyes, on pushing back believers TO create
clear space IN front OF their chairs, on leading up
nsked youths members Of one Of the pious orders
In the procession who TO be revered for the
metal skewers with bead-beads growing out of and
into their breasts, cheeks and ears, and for their
otherHiss mortified and stunted look. 50 that the
latter might be handled; on laughing and winking
oseBtatiousy at the strangers they had in charge at
critical luncturUs; and in otherwise COMFORTING I
themselyes-t is needless TO say most gratuitously
as " the latter had come to scof and jest, and TO
iFezi the ceremony as series of circus treks-and
AZ = they, as meu of the world, soldiers and hosts
felt bound 10 adopt their tone II is one thing to
gaze unObtrusvely at rites you do not share, and
another 70 mock openly at what is sufficiently grave
and scriuas impel men 10 hack and hew their own
bodies; and when hospitality took the form of lead
ing up an eyil-lOoking Saadeeh, mad with religious
excitement, aud causing him to whirl horrid wea-
pom, consisting OF heavy metal chain. and ball
studded with long spikes, round his head and with /
IN ~ inch or Two OF ours, and to finally run il /
though his check and leave it sticking there we |
confessed 10 each other, desire TO get away /
one could not help feeling that however tolera- /
tion and respect for the Viceroy's authority !
may be observed ordinarily, yet that who ]
wcre mGiming and wounding themselves in the inten
sly Of their religious afor should not be tried too
far. and that the easy canOnzatiOn to be derived /
from sacrificing an iutruding inhdel, for least
siashing or piercing him as they did themselves l
ought not for theirow sakes Ia be put before them
too tempiingly. This seli-maiming and score of 4
other fantastic operations took place the bodies 1
The PROSTATE men. The procession came steadily 4
on, musicians playing strange one-siringed instru /
menis clashing cymbals, banging small tambourine 4
lake hand drums, and all accompanying themselves /
and being accompanied by srthly bowls and yells
and marching slowly aud with naked feet four a. /
breast upon the recumbeRt bodies Flag bearers 4
came sngy at Intervals, their banners fnrled for the
moment to prevent their hitngthe pendantanterns,
and representing the several lodges orders of der
wishes they preceded. All howled. Then, when /
the little street fullest and when the diseordant
din was al its height, stout white horse, with q
paleiaced OF forty-iYe or So turned the corner
This the Sbeik, aud, in another situation in life
an impartial observer would have declared he was
drunk. He was propped up on his horse by a stout Il
attendant on either side OF him, and seemd to have
no more YolitOn than sack OF potatoes. His eyes Il
closed througOut, his face white to ghast-
illness his body had the helpless swaying motion of
a corpse held up. he was gorgeously dressed, and !
wore an immense turban of green shawl pattern.
His hands held the bride, but they were limb and
useless and his horse was led by two attendants.
Al was fine animal, but very quiet and stepped
giugerly that observers Insisted It had been
specially trained The convuisive twitehngs of the
arms and lips OF those prostrate grew more and
more pronounced. and then the framplipg under
foot began. We were at great pains to observe how
the animal trod, and where; and-there be no
doubt Of he reality of the ordeal. Sometimes on
tire ccntFe OF the back oftener between tive men, SO
tostand the feshy parts of the sides OF both,
the horse went steadily onuntil all down had horne
a portion Of il and its riders weight. No one
seemed much hurt, however. The very tightness Of
the packing gave certain power Of resistance TO
the concrete mass Of humanity; and directly the
Sheik passed, those behind jumped up-many of
them going forthwith into commissions, or into what
looked like epilepsy. One ragged fellow immedi-
ately below us kicked and struck out his arms,
foamed at the mouth, and threw his head wildly
back, until remedy which reminded one of the fight
between King aud Heenan was applied-both his
ears being bitten as restorative by pous friends.
For feW minutes-that is until the Sheik gained
the door OF the mosque, and rode over more bodies
within it-all was wild confusion. Those rising up
were embraced, while they plunged and cried and
kicked Ike men possessed.
Prom the ST. Louis Republican.