The Savannah morning news., 1901-05-15

takes place. For days, perhaps weeks,
| beforehand the priests connected with the
| temple devote themselves to fasting and
| prayer. The performance is always up
pointed to take place between 5 and 6
O'Clock in the afternoon in the small tenn
pie court, but at 2 o'clock begins the Anal
| outburst of prayer before the unveiled
altar in the inner sanctuary of the little
matted temple. From till O'Clock
the prayers continued, led by the chief
priest. At o'clock the priests filed from
| before the altar into some interior apart
ments of the temple, where they were to
| change their beautiful robes for the dress
worn during the fire walking.
Preparing the Fire.
In the meantime coolies had been set
| to work in the courtyard to ignite the
| great bed of charcoal which had al
| ready been laid. The dimensions of this
| bed were about twelve feet by four, and
| perhaps foot deep. On the top was a
quantity of straw and kindling wood
which was lighted and soon burst into a
roaring blaze. The charcoal became more
| and more thoroughly ignited. The men
not only famed the flames. but turned
| the Goals over and over by running long
poles underneath and bringing them to
| the surface. And now two of the priests
| came out said prayer or two at tiny
| shrine in corner of the Enclosure, and
turned their attention to the preparation
of the fire. Taking long fans and poles
| from the coolies, they polxed and encour-
aged the blaze till it could plainly be
| seen that the coal was ignited through
| out The whole bed was glowing mass
and the heat which arose from it was so
| intense that it was uncomfortable to sit
| fifteen feet away without holding fan
| before ones face Then they began to
pound it down more solidly along the
middle, using the poles like fails. As
far as possible inequalities over the mid
| die were beaten down, and Goals which
| protruded were brushed aside.
The other priests who were to take part
appeared, after having prayed once more
for a short time within the temple. One
of them held pile of white powder on
| small wooden stand. This was said to
| be salt, but, as far as could be ascer-
tained by a superficial examination, 1t
was mixture of alum and salt He stood
at one end and poised the wooden tray
above his head, then sprinked a hand
ful of it on the ground before the bed
of Goals. At the same time another priest
who stood by him struck sparks from
flint and steel which he held in his hands.
This same process was repeated by both
the priests at the other end, at the two
sides and at the corners.
Preliminary Ceremony.
Ten minutes perhaps, were spent in va
rious movements and nominations about
the bed of, Goals. At the end of that time
two small pieces of wet mating were
brought out and placed at either end, and
quantity of the white ! mixture was
placed upon them. One of the priests
stood upon this, wiped his feet well in it,
and walked over, his bare feet coming in
contact with the glowing Goals at every
step. He did not hurry, nor take long
steps. He walked around to the other
end, and passed over again. This time
he ran the. last two or three feet OF the
way as If the Goals hurt him. After pass
Ing, over hes rubbed his feet again In the
powder which was at the other end
Though this priest walked across again
and again,f after that, he did. not again
show any sign of undue haste. The lead
ing priest went next. p His movements
were even. slower and more delicate He
took short steps,. his hands were clasped
in front, and he seemed lost. In contem-
piation, as he might on an ordinary gar
den walk. During the numerous times
that he .traversed the bed from one end
to the other, he acted with the same de-
liberation and dignity. The young priest
who followed him had been theatrical
from the first. He swung his hands back
open fan, and he lifted each foot high up
at every step.
For five or ten minutes the priests pass
ed over the Goals. Those who were not
so engaged kept up the prayers. In the
meantime tickets had been sold to the
crowd for three sen apiece Ga cent and a
halo, which would permit the bearer to
pass over the glowing bed in the same
way. The first to go across was a woman
carrying a baby on her back. She after
ward crossed again several times. After
her came some forty or fifty people, men,
women and children, walking fearlessly
across, one closely following the other,
some. like the mother with her baby re-
turning to go across again, and appear
ing tosenjoy It, There we're two or three
who hurried at the end, but this seemed
rather because they had stepped upon a
sharp coal than because they had received
burn. While the salt and alum at eth
er end had been renewed from time to
time, there were many who walked across
when II was practically exhausted, and
they could have come in contact with
very little OF II. AS each one started on
the fiery pilgrimage the priest with the
flint and steel struck sparks about the
persons head, while the other priests did
not cease from their prayers, the waving
of the fans and the "gohei." As dusk be-
gan to fall, the scene became more and
more impressive. The Goals glowed out
by contrast, and the white robed priests,
with their weird lamentations, made a
fitting element, while two priests at one
side beat a drum and played on a reed
pipe, the strains beilng in perfect keep
ing with the rest of the performance. one
man, a coolie ran off at one side when
he was half over. and the crowd booted.
But nearly all OF the many people who
passed overland their number was large
and difficult to estimatc-seemed absolute
~ uninjured. and apparently derived no
discomfort from the operation.
There was no doubt in the minds OF any
OF the foreign spectators-and there were
many skeptcs among the number-that
the fire was not only genuine, but In
tensely hot. and no satisfactory expla-
nation could be advanced by even the
most learned. The use OF the salt and
alum on the damp mats WAS the weakest
point of ALL but even that could nave
been bot a very slight and temporary
protection.