, 1879-07-03

and At each s!ds Of tte fptna IN ths maps Of tho
neck, where former 'kewers had nencsratcd.
nerve. of our psrty that 6s trestetl d. ' viii f =
shade of'contempt hsnceforth, and seemed vory
nearly determined TO 20 ou with tho ceremony
whother VIC .iked It Or not.
confess / regretted that Il should ha1a been
brought to 4 Gloss A. tho moment whsn IL wa
becoming really interesting; but the testimony
Of an Englia6 medical man Of high reputation,
and experience, who has been long resident In
moro weight than mine. THIS gentleman haa
informed mo l1lat tho operation 10 both casts Is
genuine. The kn! 10 Roes III about slx Inches.
%sae psae .psa ifT "f bae ss!' ito Ss' s s ssas
drawn sharply but BY the ehetkh, hs vets hta
forcAnRcr with Ills tongue and tnttantly places
II on tho wound, which than eloeos, leaving only
nation. / VA, unabio on thls occasion % r.
niatn bahind and eattsfy myaeif Oh tte subject,
hut The ShGlkh anil hts disciples evtdeuily took
umbrngc at our refusal to sec Ill they Wero pro-
skept!clam, though, in fact, too vivid ballet lu
tic reality Of the performance on tho part ot
some Of our party was what 80 ahsnptty termi-
natcd our visit.
I .sked &c sheikh however, to come and
soc mo on tho following das, which hc did, aud
ind long nnd interesting conversation With
him. He said that from early youth hc heA
been trained to intense concentration and prays
cr, and repeated to. me the forms Of invocation
by which both Allah and tl,e shelkh Bedawt
could 10 approached. Partially closing Bit eyes
und lowaring bis voice to 4 whisper, he pro-
nounccd these formulas, The breath becoming
longer and lower until It WAS almost fmper-
ccptihle. and tie wt.o!e frame being apparently
al an extron,o tension, 'fhe sentences vera
constantly ai,sl almost automatically repeated.
Housing h.naaell. after tlo had shown me The
manner of invocation, he said that had bo gone
OH llttla longer, t,u would have fallen into
tF6rrtt flint hi ftttffNpf3
TO him, M1,h that willie he wns IN them be could
become conscious Of the preaeuco Of the 9hoikh
pelawl anu converse with him; That he repeat
ealy "ld sot Put that T. was uavcr permitted 70
i was not absolutely necessary to ba
Mos,anmedan III order tu be member
Of the Orticr, hut a profound and en!ire
belief In tho slcikh liedawl as the source
while Oh earth, had been desout Moalam prIo-
ticallr, NONE but al0sscms ever sought to belong
to tlc order. At tile same time he admitted
That such practices ~erc rot recognized By the
Koran, mid theF are, Indeed, opposed to It's
splrtt:. a,ut he etatned flat Allah permitted
them fur exceptional purposes, and tlat the OBJ
jctt Of the Order WAS to provo thu truth Of the
miracles recorded Ut 1rcat p!ophela. such at
perform similar w0utlc tlcrfnl works: and persons
doubling The truth Ut this could he convinced
that they were possible 10 old ttmua BY seeIng
what waa posstble now. II. however. they were
any other than religious motive, tie protection
Of Hfl]nwt wt.uId tu withdrawn and lucy ws,.l1d
certainly proYe fatal Nor could oiher than
holy nud drvout men, though mambora Of The
Order, exercise tl,eso gifts With safety. It uas
necessary also to bind oneself by onth to the
seven pomotheticaf precepfs Of Mohammelan-
tsnl. When a man decided to dtconu member
Of The or1loe, aud had takta The VOWS, the pow
crs Of tic BcdaHl vera Impaired by the proccss
Of writing On q piece Of sugat q formula.
Then, dtRaolv1ng the sugar In water and drink.
luz It, hcuccforwxrd the salirR had q special
healing virtue aud could stay tile Tow Of blood.
DC was eBabled to exercise great power in
many wnys orcr tho human oyEnnIsnl, and spent
his time III curing pe0plc wio came to hitn.
At the same tfLe ne was fully alive to thu
vAluD OF Manur, As I afterward discovered, and
both t,e nud hfs followers lived on what they
could obtain by tile c1erclaa ol thctr, art. Ha
dlI not profess to haye any power Of telling the
future, but said that he could do far more wotl-
derfnl thugs than We had seen, or that be had
intended to show us; that tha special strength
Of the Ucdawis lay in thelr power Of dealing
with serpeuta utll With lire. and thpt he tad
furnace Which, Whcn II WIS heated red hcs, Was
entered by his disclpl:s, who nuflared NJ noro
than Shallracl, Mescheeh, aud Abedpego dit
under similar circumstances thousands Of years
ago,
Altogether the sheIkh WAS caln, and earnest
man. apparently believing profoundly III all hs
said, anu with none of tho atra OF au ttnposter.