Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1894-05-11
CAIRO DERvISHES.
THEIR Howl ING AND WHlRLING ON
THE BANKS OF TrE NILE.

n VI w hith -huNi las APcth
written Described by an Eyewitness-An
Entertainment Which Put the Boston
Chaplain to Thinking.
Cairo has an entertainment every Fri
day afternoon which draws well. 1t is
the function of the bowling and whirl-
ing dervishes i'll the mosque of Kasr-el
Ain, ON the road to old Cairo, near the |
bank of the Nile There were formerly |
two entertainments one of the howlers,
the other of the whirlers. do not know |
how they happened to be united. | sup
pose it came from the tendency toward
consolidation and combination so preva- +
lent in these times. 1t is much more
convenient now In the former times
tourists were obliged to hurry from one
to the other, as they both came off at
the same hour Now they can go leisure
ly after an early lunch. We assembled
with 100 or 200 of our fellow travellers
at the appointed hour, or rather some
time before, in order to secure good
seats.
The performance is given in a circu
lar room crowned by a lofty dome.
Chairs are supplied for a moderate sti-
pend. On the occasion when we assisted
there were about 30 performers. The
leader of the troop was a very respect
able looking man. He sat in the place
of honor on one side of the room. The
others formed a semicircle in front of
him The exercise began with short
! invocation and devout obeisances. AT
first the dervishes kneeled ON mats. The
leader opened with a brief chant, and
the others responded vigorously, duck
ing their heads to the floor. Then be-
nevolent looking senior member struck
up song which had something of the
effect of a pig under a gate. This seem
ed to be stimulating, for all the Others
rose and began rhythmic bowling, keep
ing time by moving their heads forward
and backward, with occasional varia-
lions to the right and left
The bowling was varied by snort
ing chorus, which, with practice, he
comes very effective. This was followed
by deep and loud breathing, the heads
all the time wagging III the most vigor
GUS manner. The accompanying music
at first was only flute and a small
drum, but as they warmed up larger
drums and cymbals were brought i'll,
and the more violent action was accent
ed by a tremendous din. About half the
dervishes had long hair, and the move
ment of their heads was sufficient to
throw it forward and backward at every
stroke. This was Il real addition to the
effect. After they got well at work one
of them glided into the center Of the cir.
Gle and began to whirl, keeping time to
, the music and the bowling, which kept
, going faster and faster.
Now and then the leader would make
signal stop Some of the performer:
seemed unable to do this promptly but
= kept on swaying and bowling until they
l were run down. Only one Of them fell
| in a swoon, and he seemed to be in {
fair way to recover when we left. Thi;
was slight disappointment. Some days
there are more events of this nature
which always increase the pleasure o.
the audience. | am almost inclined tC
. fear that the show element has beer
e allowed to creep into this performance
| though it appears to be carried on il
: dead earnest. There is no fee for admis
. sion, but every visitor is expected t
b. drop something into the ''plate" as h'
o goes out, besides paying for his chair.
The performers at first struck me as ;
!, "job lot" of loafers picked up in til,
street for the purpose but | was assured
: by one who ought to know that the,
e were real dervishes, we'll practiced il
their business. Certainly no compan,
= without good deal of practice could &,
j through what they did without a great
er list of casualties. did not see an,
indication ON a single face that Their
was anything amusing about it. AS thi
was religious function, the chaplain
naturally took the right of the line.
y saw that he was intensely interested ant
h presumed that he was looking for
e deeper meaning underlying the strang
spectacle 1t seems that he was consid
ering the possibility of introducing
something of this nature to give warmth
. and color to the religious services in tn
/ churches of Boston, which are too apt t
t be cOldly decorous, especially under tn
: chilling influences of the Back Bay.
t Two carefully selected and we'll or
It ganized troops, one of whirlers an,
= the other of howlers, would add rea
- life and interest to any one of on
churches where the members of the con
" gregation are now apt 20 be sleepy Any
thing in reason, the chaplain says, t
l. get people out of their ruts of self com
l. placency. can scarcely venture to ex
l. press an opinion here as to the spiritue
l. effect, but feel sure that a congrega
e ton, drowsy with overlooking on bake
- beans and brown bread, would be mad
wide awake by joining moderately il
> exercises like those exhibited to us b
!. the whirlers and howlers of Cairo. =
II Cor. Boston Herald.