Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1886-08-21
TERMS---S2. 90 PER YEAR
A STRANGE RELIGIOUS RITE,
Tho Pious Exercise Performed ny
MosIems CraZed with ITRshs"sh.

| The Pious Exercise Performed by
MosIems Crnzed with II"shs"sh.
! In Suakim heard the Mo~lrmS nj
| this pious exercise. and the horror of
the unforgctable. says Phillip Robinson
| in The Contemporary Rcrtc,c. On sew
| eral occasions, when the sound reached
me from afar, thought it came from
one of the cOndenSing steamers. AMI so
probably to the last did the great ma
ioritv of strangers. But one midnight
I was making nv way lack from =
! friends quarters tn my own when
heard the spectral sound coming from
direction opposite to the ships.
stood and listened. and then dctermn-
! ed to follow it up So in and out. up
and down the narrow. dark alleys of
| the native town. | wandered in chase OF
this ventriloquial uproar. Passing
along between two high mud walls. l
stumbled over man who was CrOuchlng
on the ground. AMI at the same moment
a door opened and the whole volume OF
a prodigious bark issued theretrom.
| Out of the door came I negro. reelIng
as if drunk. and fell in heap by the
| side of the man had stumbled over.
| And then | saw ther" werr several
others sitting huddled up along the bot
tom of the wall. groaning from time to
time and gasping in n most fr'ghttul
manner As the door remained aiar.
L
| peeped in. and the spectacle present
ell was so extraordinary that ventured
| TO push it wider and step inside into
the large courtyard upon which it op-
ened. No one noticed me, for every
one was engrossed as if bewitchcd. IN
the religious function that was proceed
ing. In the center stool dervlsh. with
book from which he was chanting On
either side. with torches in their hands
that flickered and spluttered as surely
torches never did before. stood two
acolyte-like youths. who yelled sort
of accompaniment to the dervlshs
chant.
| Arranged in great semi-clrcle
around these officiating personages was
a ring of forty men. negroes and Arabs,
some bareheaded and nearly naked.
others in the complete costume Of the
well-to-do. They were holding each
others hands. and whenever the der
wish came to pause the whole compa-
nv suddenly raised their joined hands.
and as suddenly brought them down
again. As they descended. every man
bowed his head as low rs he could and
gave a deep. ventral though" The
time they kept was so exact that the
forty barked like one. On sudden
the dervish stopped, the acolytes yelled
afresh, and then the company of de-
votees, pumping with their arms and
doubling up their bodies, proceeded to
fearful competition of the lungs.
keeping in perfect unison. the barking
grew faster and faster and faster still.
until one by one the huge, brawny.
great boned Africans reeled anu stag
gered out of the ring, leaned against
the walls, or fell exhausted. gasping
and groaning, like heaps Of rags. upon
the ground.
The contagious delirium of this amaz-
ing orgy was something dreadful to be-
hold. A few still held out. but faint
and muffied in voice. and the torches
flashed and spluttrred showing the
fainting men lying all around the court
tossing their arms about and raving un-
til il seemed as if the devils had been
let loose on the earth. My own sensa-
tions were extraordinary. for |. who
had only been looking on. felt actually
faint and out of breath, and | was glad
to get out of the court, with it's reek OF
men and stencil of guttering torches
As went the voices grew weaker anu
| weaker, and SO died ont altogether; the
man who gave the last grunt Of all be-
ing the winner for the night of the
prize for piety. Next morning L was
!. told that my adventure had really been
one of considerable risk, as many OF
!. the men in these barking exercises are
!. mad drunk with hasheesh, and the
. whole company fanatically Mohamme-
dan. But am glad was not wise IN
time, or l should never have seen one
Of the most wonderful sights of my life.