The daily gazette., 1879-07-03
FIRST EDITION.
MOHAMMEDAN MIRACLES,
EXTRA THINGS SEEN BY AN
INTELLIGENT OBSERVER IN DAMAs-


EXTRA ORDINARY THINGS SEEN BY AN
INTELLIGENT OBSERVER IN DAMAs-
Gus.
DAMASCUS, May 30.-In this most
quaint and ancient of Oriental cities
there is a quarter called the Meidan. 1t
stretches away from the almost circular
town in long, narrow suburb to the
south like the handle ofa frying pan, and
is Of all parts of Damascus the most
Characteristic. 1t is the road by which
the Hadj or Pilgrimage to Mecca leaves
Damascus, and it is the road by which
long caravans from the Hauran and
southern deserts enter the city. 1t ter
inmates in the Bawabet Allah, or Gods
Gate, and Its mixed commercial and sa-
cred character has attracted q curious
floating population of dervishes and re-
ligious devOtees and of Bedouins, Kurds,
and Drises, who are in trading relations
with the Hauran or more dis. ant oases.
But my friend, the Bedawi Sheikl,,
maintained that he had certain gifts
which none ofthem possessed, while they
had none which he could not exercise.
AT any rate, l was anxious to see his
powers put to the test, and, accompanied
by some friends stimulated by the same
curiosity, we made an expedition to the
Meidan one afternoon, and found the lit
tie outyard half full OF people, and the
neighboring housetops thckly occupied
by female spectators. Among those as
sembled in the court were two or three
wild looking men, stripped to the waist,
while others, clothed, but apparently not
altogether in their right mind, were
about to take part in the performance.
The Shekhs eldest son, a particularly
handsome boy with the large, lustrous
eyes of the gazelle, was conspicuous
figure in the group, while the Sheikh
himself was man whose coun-
tenance and bearing stamped him at
once as not being of the common herd.
His face was somewhat of Jewish type;
the short gray beard and mustache par
TALLY concealed mouth decidedly pleas
ing in its expression; the eyes were
bright and piercing, and the nose was
aquiline.
Taking handful of skewers similar
to those used for cooking purposes, each
about foot long, he called the widest
half-stripped disciple to him and oprning
his mouth, muttering while with great
apparent intensity of concentration a
prayer or invocation, he with sudden
jerk forced the point clean through the
cheek so that it could be seen projecting
OH the other side. He repeated the pro-
cess with the other cheek, the man show
ing no signs of pain and not drop OF
blood flowing from the wound. He then
went to his son, who calmly gazed at
him with his large swimming eyes, OPEN
ed his mouth, and received similar stab
through the cheek without the quiver of
an eye-lid. was watching him closely
and could not observe the slightest mus
cular contraction. The point was clear
ly projecting through the skin, and de-
ceptiOn was impossible, as there was
every opportunity afforded for the closest
inspection. Leaving two victims with
their mouths thus trussed, as it were, the
Shiek took square box, which, when
it was opened, was found to contain sew
eral live scorpions Of unusual size. TAX
ing up one of these, as large as any Or
dinary land crab, heA handed 1t all wrig-
Cling, darting its tail in its efforts to
sting, to man who came forward, and
calmly but rapidly dropped it into his
mouth who crunched it with great appars.
ent relish, eating it completely up. Then
we saw much larger box, contain
ing serpents of various sizes. These he
turned out on the floor, dominating them
after the manner of the serpent charmers,
and allowing them to twine and curl
around him1 In this, of course, there
was nothing marvellous. nor indeed in
what Immediately followed but it was
sickening to behold. Drawing a live
snake about two feet long out of the box,
he held it up by the tail, when suddenly
tall man, afflicted apparently with st.
Vitus's dance, with hair dishevelled,
rushed forward with a loud cry, and
foaming lips seized the snake with both
hands, tore it violently asunder,
and plunged its bloody and pal
pitating end into his mouth. This SEEM
ed the signal for general scramble. In
moment three or four men were tear
ing the writhing fragments with their
teeth, and with eager greediness devour-
ed them in large mOuthfuls until not a
particle of the snake remained. They
then drew back with seeming reluct-
ance, wiping their bloody lips with their
hands.
But the excitement seemed to have
RIouuCou % SOfb VI HI III tu9 uldu WHO
had first seized the snake, from which the
Sheikh restored him by clasping his head
with both hands and pressing it violent
ly, while he again concentrated himself
on inoshtatons, the veins starting out
on his forehead with the intensity OF his
efforts. In a few MON ents the dervish
had become comparatively calm, though
for the rest of the time 1 observed that
he cOntin nued to twitch and jerk convul-
sively, while his eyes rolled wildly.
Meantime the man and boy who had
been pierced watched the proceedings
with the utmost unconcern. AS it was
iii ifficult to believe that to remain with
ones cheeks skewered did not at all
events produce feeling of discomfort
and as they must have been standing for
at least quarter of an hour in the same
att de, told the Sheikh to pull out the
skewers. This he did, in each case pre-
ceding the sharp pull with which he
extracted them by an earnest invocation.
| When they were drawn out the points
were blooodless, while excepting that
there was an apparent induration of the
| cheek at the spots through which the
skewers had D 'Ssed, there was no sign
of what had happened.
A brazier full of nveIcharcoal was now
brought In ,and famed into flame. When
| it was glowing with blue and lurid
| light. the Sheikh, calling suddenly on
Allah several times, jumped literally ON
| the blazing mass with his bare feet,
and stood there for nearly a minute
Then getting down, the charcoal was
again famed into flame, and the men
who had eaten the scorpions and ser
nents. and who had been skewered