The daily gazette., 1879-07-03

wooden handle, and was about to fhange
it into his abdomen, when one Of the
gentlemen of our party became so faint
and one of the ladies' SO sick that they
begged the Sheikh to omit this part of
the performance.
In vain he assured us that IL would be
unattended with the slightest pain or
danger; in vain the victim to be operated
upon manifested the utmost cagerness to
be allowed to stab himself; the civilized
nerves of my friends were unequal to the
shock. He was by no means fanati cal
looking man, this adept in the magic
art, but calm, intelligent-looking per-
son, whose white skin gave him quite an
air of w estern civilization. He showed
US whole row OF scars extending COM
pletely round his waist, each about an
inch long, some twenty or thirty in num-
Der, as evidences that he was accus-
toned 10 the experiment, and that 1t was
safe. In every case, while bearing a very
distinct indurated mark, the skin had
healed beautifully and he assured us that
the operation was as bloodless as the one
we had already Witnessed At least he
begged, five would not allow him to
plunge knife six inches long into his
stom ach, to let him exhibit the minor
spectacle of having q skewer, to which q
large iron ball was attached passed
through his throat at his wlnd-pfpe and
| come out at the back of his neck. He
show ed us the hard Jumps at the lower
part of the throat in front and at each
side of the spine in the nape of the necB,
| where former skewers he'd penetrated.
The Sbeikh was SO dsgusted with the
weak nerves of our party, that he treated
us with shade Of contempt henceforth,
and seemed very determined to go on
with the ceremony whether we liked 1t
or not.
l confess regretted that it should have
been brought to. close at that moment
when it was becoming really interesting;
hut the testimony of an English medical
man of high reputation and experience,
who has been long aesident in the East,
and who has witnessed both the piercing
of both the abdomen and the neck, will
have more weight than mine. This
gentleman has informed me that the
operation in both cases is genuine The
knife goes in about six inches. i myselfsaw
that there was no possibility of its being
slipped back into the handle. AS 1t is
drawn sharply ont 10y the Sheik, he vets
his forefiuger with his tongue and in-
staDtly places it in the wound, which
then closes, leaving only scar, but there
is no sign of blood or inflammation. /
was unable on this occasion Ito remain
behind and satisfy myself ON the subject,
but the Shelkh and his disciples evident
ly took umbrage at our refusal to see all
they were prepared to show, and attri-
buted it probably to skepticism, though,
in fact, a too vivid belief in the reality
of the performance on the part of some
OF our party was what SO abruptly termi-
ed our visit.
! asked the Sheikh, however, to come
and sec me on the following day, which
he did, aud had a long and Interesting
conversation with him. He said that
from early youth he had been trained to
intense concentration and prayer, and
repeated to me the forms OF invocation
by which both Allah and the Shelkh
Bedawi could be approached. Partially
closing his eyes and lowering his voire
to whisper, he pronounced these for
mulas, the breath becoming longer and
| lower until iJ was almost imperceptible,
and the whole frame being apparently at
| an extrems tension. The sentences wele
constantly and almost automatically re-
peated. Rousing himself, after he had
shown me the manner ofinvocation, be
said that had he gone on a little longer
| he would have fallen into trance; that
frances thus induced were common to
| him, and that while he was in them he
could be conscious of the presence
| of the Sheikh Bedawi and converse with
| him; that he repeatedly did so. but that
| it was never permitted TO him to divulee
what passed. He said 1t was not absO-
lutely necessary to be Mohanmedan
| in order to be member of the order,
but a profound and entire belief in the
Sheikh Bedaw rs the source of their
| power was essential, and as BsdawI,
while on earth, had been devout Mos
lem practically, none but Moslems ever
sought to belong to the order. At the
| same time he admitted that such prac-
tices were not recognized by the Koran
and they are, indeed, opposed to its
spirit but he claimed that Allah permit
ted them for exceptional purposes, aud
that the object of the order was to prove
the truth Of The miracles recorded of
great prophets, such as Abraham. Moses
and Christ, all of whom could perform
similar wonderful works; and persons
doubling tine truth of this could be con-
vinced that they were possible In old
times by seeing what was possible now.
If, however, they were attempted even
by members of the order from any other
than religious motive, the protection
of Bedawi would be Withdrawn, and
they would certainly prove fatal. Nor
could other than holy and devout men,
though members of the order, exercise
these gifts with safety. 1t was neces-
sary also to bind oneself by oath to the
seven nomothetical precepts of M oham-
mechanism. When man decided to be-
come member of the order, and had
taken the VOWS.