Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1881-11-24
Dancing Deryishes.

HSunset" Cox, in letter from Con
stantinople, describes the dancing der
wishes as follows Near our hotel are
the dancing derTishes. ] Isuppose there
are ample descriptions OF these der
wishes and their mummeries, but have
not read them. give what saw. The
dancing sect whirl around gently On
theirtoes. Their arms are extended and
eyes sleepy or dreamy. They keep
their places, like stars in their orbits,
as they move around, while q solemn
brother, with arms folded and in prayer,
moves between the revolving orbs
Their robes fly out as though they
would make a cheese, as the children
used to say. They have sweet chant.
Their closed eyes and whirl indicate
that they see the invisible Allah wT.ere-
ever they turnl
These do not howl For that we went
to Ecutari. There is q aconvent of them
there. We slipped behind curtain
and went up into the gallery, looking
down into court. There vas an altar
and group Of variously dressed der
wishes. Some were soldiers, some boys,
some little girls in tinseled dresses,
some were black as ebony, some tall
some small, some thin, some handsome
some hideous, and all joined in the
prayers and chants. A few kneeled ON
sheepskin, while others formed q hol-
low square and began swaying and sing
ing, while the tum-tum Of the tambour-
inc and clash OF the cymbals gave ont
the pleasing concord of q threshing
machine. When the agony wac suf1-
cient and the steam was on with full
head, the swaying. and bowling and
barking and swapping and jerking Of
head and sbody, ,Sand the frothing and
hard breathing and general diabolism
began. The song was repetitionE, and
not unmusical at intervals where q flute
like melody, instrumental, came il IS
prelude to additional bowling. We
stood this for an hour. One man, Of ex-
cellent appearance, with long, glossy
auburn hair and rich voice, as it
sounded out s'Allah |" and sMahmoud !"
seemed to be the chief, and ruled them
with look. He gave a glance at one
and off would go coat, or turban, or
their high white sugar-loaf hat, and on
would 60 white nightcap. One Afri-
can ofthe worst aspect r ever saw On y
human face, if, indeed, it was not "
zor hiding the human face, seemed to
be as 1.-the and loathesome as a snake.
He was six feet and more, and in his
bare feet. His tongue would Ioll out,
and his body would contcrt till you
could hardly see what form it had. He
twisted, snapped, clucked, barked and
howled. Wewent out for fresh sir, 10
return to see this strangest Of ceremo-
nies. Their chief and sone Of his subor-
dinates we're sitting cross-iegged and
making sacred knots in white napkins
when we re-entered. Then prone ON
their faces were arrayed dozen chill
dren, from two months old up to twelve;
and this dervish walked over and On
their bodies. Yes, on them, each and
all would not have believed il had
1 not seen it. Not once, but four times,
these PROSTATE lines OF children were
formed and he tread On them each and
all. Whereupon, they arose sanctiHed
and cleared of disease /: for that is the
theory. In came a soldier and lay fat.
He had the rheumatism. Along with
him line was formed, some oF The
same little ones going fat again. Over
the lot the chief Travelled. The
soldier got up and kissed the dervish's
hand. He took care to place his foot
on the upper part Of the thigh behind.
Any surgeon viii tell you whether this
is vulnerable spot. Not child
whimpered, not soul smiled. Icould
neither enjoy nor cease to wonder.
What is the solution of this seeming
physical paradox That question r
asked Of e gentleman learned ID the
customs here. He said ''Did you o.
serve two priests in loose robes on each
side Of the line, holding the chiefs
arms ~
Yes, but aid not See that they could
have carried him safely over, allowing
only slight touch to the children with
the priestly foot.
HThat," said he, s'is my solution and
the only one I have. Two strong men
might do it after much practice
Take little annoyances out Of the way. III
You are suffering with Ooughor Cold use pr.
~. cy4a..m rrf.@- al