Year: 1879

A New York Sun correspondent writes
from Damascus, giving the following
account of miracles J" performed by
Mohammedan sheikh or priest: Taking
handful of skewers similar to those
used for cooking purposes, each about a
foot long, he called the widest nall
stripped disciple to him, and opening his
mouth, muttering the while with great
apparent intensity of concentration
prayer or invocation, he with a sudden
Jerk forced the point clean through the
cheek so that it could be seen projecting
on the other side. He repeated the pro-
cess with the other cheek, the man
showing no sign of pain and not o drop
of blood flowing from the wound. He
then went to his son, who calmly gazed
at him with his large swimming eyes,
opened his mouth and received similar
stab through the cheek without the
culver of an eyelid. Twas watching him
closely and could not observe the slight
est muscular contraction. The point
was clearly projecting through the skin,
and deception was impossible as there
was every opportunity, afforded for the
closest inspection. Leaving the two
victims with their mouths thus trussed,
as it were, the shiekh took a square box,
which, when opened, was found to con,
tain several live scorpions Of unusual
size. Taking up one of these, as large
as an ordinary land crab, ne handed it,
all wriggling, darting its tail in it's efforts
to sting, to man who came forward,
and calmly but rapidly dropped it into
his mouth and cruz ched it with great
apparent relish, eating it completely up.
Then we saw a much larger box, con-
tanning serpents of various sizes. These
he turned out upon the floor, dominating
them after the manner of serpent charm.
ers, and allowing them to twine and curl
round him. In this, of course. there was
nothing marvellous, nor indeed in what
Immediately followed, though it was
sickening to behold. Drawing a live
snake about two feet long out OF the
box, he held it up by the tail, when sud-
denly tall man, afflicted apparently
with St. Vitus' dance, with hair dishev-
eled. rushed forward with loud cry,
and with foaming lips seized the snake
with both hands, tore it violently asun'
der, and plunged its bloody and palpita,,
ting end into his mouth. This seemed
the signal for general scramble. Ir a
moment three or four men were tearing
the writhing fragments with their teeth,
and with eager greediness devoured them
in large mouthflls until not particle of
the snake remained. They then drew
back with seeming reluctance, wiping
their bloody lips with their hands.


But the excitement seemed to have
produced a sort of fit in the man who
had first seized the snake, from which
the sheikh restored him by clasping his
head with both hands and pressing it
violently, while he again concentrated
himself on incantations, the veins start
ing out on his forehead with the inten-
sity of his efforts. In few moments
the dervish had become comparatively
calm; though for the rest of the time |
observed that he continued to twitch
and jerk convulsively, while his eyes
rolled wildly. :,


Meantime the man and boy who had
been pierced watched, the proceedings
with the utmost unconcern. AS it was
difficult TO believe that to remain with
ones cheeks skewered did not at all
events produce feeling Of discomfort,
and as they must have been standing
for at least quarter of an hour in the
same attitude, I told the sheikh to pull
out the skewers. This he did, in each
case preceding the sharp pull with which
he extracted them by an earnest invoca-
ton. When they were drawn out the
points were bloodless, while, excepting
that there was an apparent induration
of the cheek at the spots through which
the skewers had passed, there was no
sign of what had happened.


A brazier full of live charcoal was now
brought in, and famed into flame:
When it was glowing with blue and
lurid light. the sheikh, calling suddenly
on Allah several times. jumped literally
on the blazing mass with his bare feet,
and stood there for nearly'a minute.
Then getting down. the charcoal was.
again flannel into flame, and the men
who had eaten the scorpions and SER
pents, and who had been skewered
through the cheeks, rushed forward,
plunged their hands into the burning
mass, and tossed the glowing embers
into their mouths, crunching them up
with the greatest unconcern. Mean
time, the smell of burned flesh became
unmistakable. which somewhat mill
tates against the theory that their flesh
is impervious to fire, though am bound
to say no one showed any signs of feel
ing pain.