Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-05-25
From the 81. James Gazette.

From the 50. James Gazette.
The sick man lies in ertre1ais on a thin mat
trees upon the floor. covered by quilted silk
en- coverlet. Twenty or thirty persons are in
the room where he is dying. The smoke Of
many hubble bubbles clouds the air; whisper
ed conversation is general. The doctors have
declared their patients condition hopeless,
and, as a last resort. certain charms suggest
ed by a weird looking dervish have been tried.
but the crab broth, prepared from the tiny
crustace9ns that inhabit the streamlets round
shras, the patient has been unable 60 swal-
low; and the dervish points out TO the rela-
tives of the dying man that his panacea has
only not proved infallible because il was tired
too late. a yelled woman, the wife OF the
dying man, sits weeping at the side of her
husbands pillow. She frequently holds 60 his
face piece OF moistened mud torn from the
wall this wetted mud Is supposed to nave a
very reVlVlng influence. and Is used by Per-
SLAMS rs We use smelling salts).
Tea Is handed round in small Guns: the
crowd In the room becomes greater; every
window is shut. and as the outside tempera-
ture Is ninety degrees, some idea Of the heat
within can he formed. The crowd is not here
from merecuriosity. A man issick; then where
should hls friends Oe, they say. II not by his
bedsideY fne samOvars Russian tea uFns)
steam aud bubble; the room Is filed with
clouds Of tobacco smoke and the steam from
the urns. And now, just as two hundre
years ago was done in England. fowl Is
killed and placed warm and bleeding ON the
patients feet. All is OF no avail, however.
The man has breathed his last.
The wife yields her place by the bedside.
mokt0ned cotton wool Is placed IN the mouth
or the dead. IN the orifces Of the nOstrils, and
IN the ears. A noOllah begins 60 read aloud
the prescribed portion OF the Koran. c1m
meneing, 20. man. swear by the instructive
Koran that thou art one OF the messengers of
cod sent 20 show tho right way etc. This
portion Of the Mussuimans sacred book was
called by mohammed himself 'the heart OF the
Koran" And now all present witness aloud
shat the dead man was z cd and piOus Mo
hammedan. Tho limbs are composed. aud "a
cnp OF water IA plnced at the head OF the
c'rpse. No sooner b. this dane than q mOOlah
ascends 60 the Nat roof OF the h0use and be-
gins 10 re0d in shrill monotone certain verses
from the holy book. This ANNOUNCES 20 the
neighbors th0t the man h verbally dead: and
AZ tue same moment his relations shrek and
wall Woo, Voc! nc Is dead. he has pas cd
away" Thee arc tha expressions OF q real
grief. But presently the professional mourn
ers arrive and reud the air with their shrill
screaming, which Is like the "keening' of the
irish.
The house is soon Glled with friends and
neighbours. who add their cries 60 the screams
Of the m0nrners. The women Of the family
hasten g. array Themselves In 'sbitter" a. e.
aoinbrel garment-not In actual black, but In
sgd coiors; neither they nor the men wash or
dress their hair until the funeral and the hrst
DAYS Of mourning are over. The male rela-
tivos 30 not literally rend their garmouts but
give them the right appearance by openiug
certain seams Of their coats ana clocks with "a
penknife; and instead OF casting dust upon
their heads they dab mud on their hats
Aud now come the "svushere of the dead Z"
| 10 each parish are attached "a family OF these
people. who get Qesplsed livelihood 10y per
forming the last eflces for the dead. The
cOrpse having been washed NJ an adjoining
stream, the hands are placed across the chest
I and u Is wrapped in tie shrOud OF cotton
cloth that the deceased has probably had by
him, ~ sort of ineuenf0 A.ori. for years.
I Campbor real vegetable camphor) is placed
beneath the shfoud, and the body Is laid In
rough colin made Of thin pianks and brought
back TO the house. The colin in Persia ls OF
Tim aud unsuhetantial kind, aud the burial
always taScs place within "A hOutsof decease