The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1872-12-20
The Howling DerYishes.

: i'"hStallli correspondence Of the Spring
field Republican,
u On the opposite side of the BosDborns
: in Scutari, a city of about 200 600 inbab
/ ltantsi Is enacted once week one of In,
most peculiar and interesting sights Of
, the East. The room where the dervishes
howled was about forty feet square. with
: a loft on one side for visitors. As We
entered We exchanged our shoes for
slippers, which were all front-the heel
end being omitted. BY skillful man
agement or our feet, we succeeded in
dragging them up the stairs leading to
the gallery. There were no chairs to sit
on, but their place was supplied with
sheep skins, with hair and fleece both
left on, but such accommodations the
traveller in the East must become accus-
toned to. In one corner were piled up
the mattresses on which the dervishes
sleep, with small pulpit keeping guard
on their side. While the dervishes were
quietly enjoying the ndrghiIes, or water
pipes, in the porch, one of the assistants
came in to prepare the floor for the
services" After spreading the sheep
skins over the floor, he put on one Of
the hats belonging to the dervishes. and
mounted the pulpit. These hats. bv the
way, are a peculiar institution. They
are made of felt, about an inch thick.
and are shaped like fiower-pOt, about
eight inches high. The young neo-
| phyte, after adOrning himself to his sat
isfaet1on, commenced mimicking the
exercises which were about to follow.
lie was suddenly interrupted, however,
by the entrance of the dervishes, about
thirty in number, who took their stations
facing towards Mecca.
They commenced their prayers,
silently at first, bowling and touching
the floor with their foreheads at inter-
vals. Suddenly they commenced sing
ing in concert as loud as they could yell,
going through the same motions as be-
fore, ending by repeating in concert a
hundred appellatiOns of the Deity. !
Next came the howl proper. a row
was formed of about twenty-five per-
sons, including some soldiers and COM /
mon people, who were allowed the priv /
ilege of sharing in the fearful excite |
ment which the subsequent exercises
produced. While half a dozen dervishes
were singing the great hymn in honor
of the prophet, the chorus repeated i'm
concert Observation-Disclosures, which is
said to be their expression of faith.
They commenced slowly at first,
bending their bodies now forward, then i
sideways, then backward with each syl-
liable. As the time quickens they bend
faster and faster, running the syllables
together until only the hoarse howl of
I-l0h is heard. Faster and faster they
bend and hoarser grow the howls. Al I
though a cold day, the perspiration
pours down their faces, while the at
tendantS remove all their outer cloth
ing, and put little white caps on their
heads. AS the sheik begins to stamp.
nothing can be heard at each inclination
but deep, aspirated grunts, something
like those of n startled pig. 1t was
actually painful to watch their faces,
their ghastly ycOuntenances,s such frenzied
looks IN their eyes, though one fat /
darkey presented even a comical ap-
pearanee by his frantic attempts to keep
up with the rest.
Suddenly all stop at the word of the
sheik. Cloaks are thrown over the @
exhausted worshippers, reeking with q
perspiration. One Of them was too far '
gone to have any control of himself, and g
Kept bending back and forth until his '
head was held by a companion. Some /
times they run knives through the $
fleshy parts of their bodies in the height |
of their orgies. The atmosphere of the :
room was almost uncomfortable, bat for
the sake of seeing the sight through we '
waited little longer. \ bottle of water
was next passed around, and all, COM |
with the shiek or chief dervish,
breathed into it. 1t was then quickly |
corked up, and thereafter used as a /
specific for all the ills to which flesh is ,
heir. Once more the singing COM |
mences; the howlers bend and howl,
though less energetically than before; |
garments are thrown off, and the last,
and, in some respects, the most interest ,
ing scene takes place. The shiek is q {
worker of miracles. After embracing {
and kissing his followers, he attends to
the healing of the sick. A baby about
Il year and half old was brought to
him. After looking intently at the
child, he gave it to an attendant, who
stretched the pale little thing face
downward upon the floor. To our hor-
rOr, the great lubber of a shiek stood for
some time with his whole weight on the
sick baby, first on its shoulders, then on
its hips, and then on its legs, at the
same time repeating a prayer. What
seemed most marvellous to us was,
that the infant did not utter a sound, ]
nor did any of the other ladies and
small children who were afterwards
treated in the same way. Next, a num- [
Der of sick of more advanced years were
stretched out side by side, and the shiek
walked back and forth upon them, end
ing by breathing over them with his
holy breath, which, after the preceding
exercises, was believed to have remark
able healing properties. By working on
the imagination they have made some {
wonderful cures, especially of nervous I
diseases. Some EngIishmen, even, I
while OF course not believing in their
any miraculous power, have
been successfully treated by them.