The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1879-08-17
MOHAMNEDAN MIRACLES.

In this mos: quaint and ancient ol
Oriental cities there is quarter called
the Meidan. l. stretches away from
the almost circular town 10 a long, mar
row suburb TO the south, like the handle
Of fryingpan, and is Of oil parts oil
Damascus the most characteristic. l:
is the road by which the Hacji. or Pill
grimage TO Mecca. leaves Damascus,
and it is the road by which long cara
vans from the Hauran and southern
deserts enter the city. II terminates in
the Bawsbet Allah, or Gods Gate, and
and its mixed commercial aud sacred
character has attracted q curious float.
ing population Of dervishes and relig-
ious devotees. and OF Bedouins. kurds
aud Druses. who are in trading rela-
tions with the Haurans or more distsn:
oases. On the right hand side, aud not
far from the end OF the street. is .
small. unpretentious house. Indeed.
many Of the houses in the Meidan are
little better than hovels. but this one
house can boast of . small courtyard.
at the further end Of which is the usual
room. entirely open to tue cour. on one
eide. while it opens into the rect OF the
house, aud is surrounded by divans on
the other side In this court are two or
three orange trees in blossom and it is
overlooked by the fiat roofs Of neigh
boring houses. where closely -veiled
women can sQust IN rows aud take part
in any ceremony of interest Of which
the courtyard may be the scene
The little house contains q very re-
msrkable parsonage, not much known
excepting to moslems. and not altogether
approved by some Of them. but among
the poorer classe, enjoying an immense
reputation. and altogether holding Q
position which it would nnt be- safe 20
treat with contempt. His name is
Sheikh Rusian Abou.on, and l diecov.
cred him with the help of the police.
in my search for living cur.osities. 10
which take deeper interest than in
Cuphic coins or Damascus blades. He
was the hereditary Grand Shcikh Of the
Dervish Order Of the Re1awi. founded
about 500 years ago by the we'll known
Moslem Saint, Sheikh Said Ahmed El
Bedawi. whose tomb i, still . place Of
pil,rimag- for ms followers. and j, IN
b. found in the OLD CTualers Church
of Tantah in Egypt. At the present
moment the Order numbers about. TO- :
Coo mcmt ers scattered throughout Is
lam. but they all owe allegiance to the
shiekh Russian at Damascus: who claims
to be o lineal descendant of the great
founder. and TO whom had been trans
,nitted the supernatural powers with
which his ancestor was endowed. Such
powers, however. are by no means con.
fined to Sheikh Russian aud his disciples
but exist TO . greater or less extent in
three other Orders. viz: the Kilsni,
the Rifai. and the Sukki.
Bot my friend. the BedAwi Sheikh.
maintained that he had certain gifts
which none Of them possessed. while
they had none which he could not ex-
ercise. At any rae. was anxious to
STE his powers put to test. and. sc-
companied by some friends stimulated
by the same curiosity. We made an cx-
petition. and found the little courtyard
half full Of people. and the neighbor
ing housetops thickly occupied by fe-
male spectators Among those assem-
bled 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 Sheikh eldest son, . particularly
handsome boy. with large. lustrous
eyes Of the gazelle, WAS q conspicuous
figure in the group. while the Sheikh
himself was man whose countcnance
and bearing stamped him at once as
not being one Of the COMMON herd.
His face was somewhat OF Jewish
type; the short grxy beard and NOUS
tsche partially concealed . mouth de-
cidedly pleasing in expression; the ey es
we're bright and piercing, aud the nose
was aquilins.
Taking a handful Of skewers. similar
to those used for cooking purposes, each
about foot long. he called the widest.
half.stripped disciple to him. and open.
ing his mouth, muttering the while
with great apparent Intensity Of con-
csntration a prayer of invocation. he,
with sudden jerk. forced the point
clean through the cheek so that i. could
be seen projecting on the other side.
He repeated the process with the other
cheek the man showing no pain and
not . drop Of blood flowing from the
wound. He then went to his son. who
calmly eazed at him with large swim
ming eyea opened his mouth isnd re-
ceivcd similar stab through the cheek
without the quiver OF an eyelid. I was
watching him closely aud could not OBJ
serve the slightest muscular contraction.
The point Vas clearly projecting
through the skin, and deception MAS
impossible. as there WAS every "ppor-
tuni,y afforded for the closest inspec-
ticn. Leaving the two victims with
their mouths thus trussed. IS it were.
the Stsikh took . square box which,
when it was opened. Was found to con-
tain several large scorpions Of unusual
size. Taking up one Of theee, Is large
as sn ordinary land crab, he banded it
sll wriggliug, darting its tail in its eff
forts to sting. to . man who came for
ward. and rapidly dropped it into his
mouth and crunched 1t with great
apparent relish. eating it completely
up. Then We saw;a much larger box
containing serpents of vsrious sizes.
These he turned out upon the floor,
dominating them after the manner Of
serpent charmers. and allowing them to
twine and curl around him. In this. OF
course. there was nothing marvellous,