Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1894-05-03
CAIRO DERVISHES
THEIR ROWLING AND MAlRllNG ON
TIE BANKS OF the NILE.

\ Isrformancc Of Which Mnol, Has lk>cn
Written described by an Eyewitncss--sAn
Entcrtainm,nt Witch Tut the boston
Charlaln Ia Thinktng,
Cairo has an entertainment every Fri
day afternoon which draws we'll 1t is
tho function Of the bowling and whirl.
ing drwiShes in the mosque W KaSr-cl-
Ain, rm the road to old Cairo near the
bank of the Nile ThcN wcrC formerly
two entertainments, one ut the howlorS,
the other ot the whjrlerS don not know
how they happened 70 Tx united, sup.
pose it came from thu tendency toward
consolidation and combination So prrya.
lent in these times. Ii is much morr
convenient NOW, In the former times
tourists werr obliged t,Aurry from ono
to the other, rs thcN both cano of at
the same hour Now they can ~ leisuro,
ly after an early lunch, We assembled
with 100 or 200 of our follow travellers
nj the appointed hour or rather snnlo
timo before i'll order to SECURE good
seats
The performance is given III " circu-
lar room crowned hy n lofty dome
Chairs arc supplied for moderate sti.
pend. On the OCCASION when We assisted
theN were about 30 performers Tho
leader ot the troop WAS very respect
able looking man. He sat in the place
ot honor ON ono side of tho room. The
nfbNrS fnrYhD1 n S,,ni,,irrln IN r,4,nt ,Nf
him. Tho exercise began with u short
invocation and dovout ohoiSancos. At
first the dervishes kneelcd ON mats Tho
leader opened with brief chant, and
the others responded vigorously, duck
ing their heads to the floor Then he.
ncyolcnt looking senior member struck
up Il song which had something of tho
effect of II pig under n gate This Scent
cd to I've stimulating, for all tho others
roseund began rhythmic bowling keep
ing time Ivy moving their heads forward
and Backward With occasional yarin.
tions to tho right and left.
Tho bowling was varied by snort
ing chorus, which, with practice ho-
comes very effective. This was followed
by deep aud loud breathing, tho heads
all the time wagginE in the most vigor-
Gus manner. The accompanying music
ut first was only II flute and small
drum, but rs thcy warmed up larger
drums and eymhals were brought in,
and the moro violent action was accent.
ed by tremendous din. About half tho
dcrvishca had long hair, and tho move
mout of their heads was sufficient to
throw it forward and backward at every
stroke This WAS II real addition to the
effect After they got we'll Mt work ono
of them glided into the center of tho cir
clio and began to whirl, keeping time to
tho music and the bowling, winch kept
going fastor and faster
Now and then tho leader would mako
u signal tostop Some of the performers
seemed unable to do this promptly hut
kept on swaying and bowling until thoy
wcro run down. only ono Of Thorn fell
in II swoon, and he seemed to bo in II
fair way to recover when WE left This
was slight disappointment, Some days
there are moro events of this nature,
which always increase the pleasure of
the audience. am almost inclined to
fear that the "show" element has been
allowed to creep into this performance,
though 1t appears To DO carried on in
dead earnest. There is no fee for ndmis-
sion, but every visitor is expected to
drop something into the plato" M he
goes out, besides paying for his chair.
ht "a rAt OF 1rlf nA "a
"job lot" of loafors picked up in the
street for tho purpose, but was assured
by ono who ought to know that they
weo real deryishos, we'll practicod in
their business, Certainly no company
without "A good deal Of practice could 20
through what they did without great.
or list Of casualties. | did not 500 any
indication on single faco that there
was anything amusing about II. Az this
was religious function, the chaplain
naturally took the right of the line.
saw that no was intensely interested and
presumed that he was looking for n
deeper meaning underlying tho strange
spectacle IT seems that he was consid-
ering the possibility of introducing
something of this nature to give warmth
and color to the religious services IN tho
churches Of Boston, which are too apt to
be coldly decorous, especially under tho
chilling influences of tho Back Bay.
Two carefully selected and well or
ganized troops, one Of whirlers and
the other Of howlcrs, would add real
life and interest To any ono OF our
churches where the members Of tho CON
pegation are now apt to be sleepy. Any
thing in reason, tho chaplain says, TO
get people out Of their ruts Of self com.
placcncy ! can scarcely venture TO ex-
press an opinion here as to the spiritual
effect, but feel sure that n congrcga-
ton drowsy with overlooking ON baked
beans and brown bread, would be made
wide awake by joining moderately In
oyarcians lika thoaa exhibited IN llg Inv