Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-01-26
A STEAMBOAT MOSQUE.
The Strength Of Its Beautiful Pillars and
Their Imperishabio Stability.


Their Impsrishsbie Stability.
You enter this mosque through .
bronze door. having of course previ-
ously shod your profanc feet with pro-
tecting babouches; and then you are
free to examine and admire. The first
feature that strikes you is four cnorm-
Gus pillars. which might be compared
to four fluted towers, and which sup
port the weight of the principal cupola.
The capitals of these pillars are carved
into the form of mass of stalaclites.
a style of ornament which may be OBJ
served in many fine Persian monu-
ments; and halfway up they are encil-
| cled by a band covered with inscrip-
tons in Turkish characters. The
strength and simplicity of these four
pillars, which at once explain to the
eye the constructive system Of the
building, give striking impression
of robust majesty and impcrisha-
bic stability. Souratcs. or verses
from the Koran, form bands
of running ornament around the
great cupola and the minor domes and
the cornices. From the roof are sus.
pended, to within eight or ten feet Of
the ground. innumcrable lustres oom-
posed of glass cups full of tallow. set
in circular iron frame, and decorated
with balls of crystal. ostrich eggs. and
silk tasscls, as in Saint Sophia and all
the other mosques. The mihrab. which
designates the direction of Mecca
the niche where rests the sacred book,
the Koran, the ''noble book taken from
a prototype kept in heaven"-is inlaid
with lapis-lazuliagate and jasper. Then
there is the usual member. surmounted
by a conical sound-board; the n,astach-
es, or platforms supported by colo
nettes, where mueZzins and other clergy
sit. As in all tho mosques. the side
aisles are encountered with trunks and
and bales of merchandise, deposited by
p;ous Mussulmans under divine safe
guard; and finally, the floor is covered
with fine mating in summer and car
pets in winter.
While l was lost in wonderment at
the splendor of this mosque, several
Moslems came in to pray, with the
usual ,prostrations and beard-stroking
and yawning. Two or three women
also came to pray. clad in feridjis of
brilliantly striped silks-rose and
white. azure and white, yellow and
red-and they. too, kneeled on the
mating. and bowed and touched the
ground with their brows; and their lit
tie baby girls, with their fine eyes and
white walls wrapped round their heads,
stood patient and motionless beside
them, not being yet old enough TO
pray. or perhaps not strong enough
on their legs to PROSTATE themselves
without irremediably losing their
balance. Some of these little baby
girls seemed as ceautiful as fresh
flowers, and reminded one of the fair
dreams of rosy childhood which we
find in the pictures of the French
painter Diaz Then. in odd corners
of the mosque, were boys learning
the Koran under the direction of
old turbaned priests, and others
learning all alone. squatting cross
legged, with the sacred book
open before them on reading-stand
in the shape of an x. These queer
little boys produced the montonous
and melancholy sounds which alone
re-echoed in the vast silence of the
mosque; and in the immensely of the
place. dotted as they were here and
there. near the mihrab and the mas
tachcs. they looked like big black
fungi that had sprung up through the
pale straw-colored mating. Huddled
up into sort of sphere with o fiat
base. these boys. each one acting in
dependently. would rock themselves
rapidly backwards and forwards, while
they read aloud. in q sharp. nasal
voice, q verse from the Koran. Then
they would stop look round. remain
silent for minute or two. and then
begin rocking and reading again.
Sometimes q single voice would be
heard. to which another voice would
seem to respond. Another time two
or three voices would be heard to-
gether. and the immense vaults would
receive and reverbcrate the sounds,
which composed q kind of monotO-
nous and shrill music, for the Koran Is
full of rhythmic prose. similar to that
Of which We find specimens in the