The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1877-03-17
An Englishman's Temptation TO Becomc a
HOwitng Dervish

George Augustus Sala, the London writer
recently visited Constantinople convent, in
which the Howling Dervishes were perform
ing their pious solemnlhcs. They were
eighteen in number, brawny, unwashed, rag
ged vagabonds of all compilations, from
pasty white to deep chocolate hue, and
amoug them was one negro of colossal stature
and of u deep shiny black-a Nublan. They
stood up IN a row against the WALL and, tol
lowing tho fuglem anship of the Sheli, recit.
ed the "Lah.illah,' which they pronounced
''Lor and "olahw The principal move
ment on their parts seemed to be violent
stamp on the ground; and they went up and
down, wagging their preposerous heads,
waving their bony arms, and bringing down
their huge feet in alternate thuds on the
ground. They continued 10 tramp and to in
tone their psaImOdy for about twenty. five min.
utes, aud then they began to howl, not by
any means in unison, but every one OH his
own account. There were those who bawled
bass and those why growled treble. Some
grunteu like swine, some barked like dogs,
some lowed like kline, some beloved like
bulls, some squalled like cats, while others
merely yelled and shriekcd like human Bed.
lamites
After describing these peculiar displays of
The HOwllng Dervlshes, Mr.. Sala speaks of
his personal feeling thus:
u should be ashamed to record-werc II
not idle to blush for any action that Is per-
iectly natural-that the direst difficulty which
| encountered during this mad orgie Of cater.
wauing was to refrain myself from taking
an active part in the performance. There
came over me twenty times fierce and we'll
nigh irrepressible desire to howl. There was
something more than seductive, more than
tempting-there was that which was absO.
lutely fascinating and enthralling in the OPP
portu1ity offered for proclaimlng ones indi.
vlduallty In 'barbaric yawp,' as Walt Whit.
man puts it, When ght such another pre-.
sent itself as that offered by the Howling
Place of the Agia Yanni? Who was to say
me nay if l elected to yelp? Among the
ROOfai facilities are provided for converting
mere rhetoric into logic, and you may wall
yourself out Of breath without seandalizing
your neighbors. There IS, apprehend, an
other and more deeply seated cause which
might account for the temptation, which
ostensibly civilized and apparently rational
beings often experience, 10 make fools of
themselves IN the way of shriekiug. Wise
physicians will discourse to you about the
proneness of the nervous system 10 hysterical
affections, and the contagiousness OF hysteria
itself; but all know is that when one wild
beast begins to howl another follows suit :;
that the hon roaring in the jungle is answer
ed by the garrulOus jackal and the derisvely
humorous hyena; and that African chiefs
and their savage caboccers, will, when elevat.
ed by patriotism, piety, and rum shout by
the hour together. Twas fortunately enabled
10 subdue my savage Instincts among the
Roofai; but, had howIed my loudest in uni
son with the rapscalions around me, I should
have been cedlng, am afraid. only to a.
thoroughly natural intuition"