A SINGULAR PERFORMANCE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue II, 19 November 1889, Page 4

A SINGULAR PERFORMANCE.

-♦ A strnnge and remarkable entertainment wws given for the first time on S ptembev 4 tli in St. Jamas' Great Hal', I nn^on, in the pies nee of a^ffoff§e{ig| R'fjjs representatives* and dflae^nvit^ gnefs. The performers wer<* Hglit or Mi- c membpiv of the religion sect of the Aiss.-ionas, wh'ch is said to have sprung mo • cxi tence al-on' 'lree-icfvntiires 1 ao in Moocco, and to !>ave since sp end over the N6rkl» -of £frea. Their orig : n is attributed to a curse pro nonncf d upon his follower* by a certain Sh il<\ named Mohammed Ben Ai«sa, who, wearied by tlvir complaints dnrinj? a lorg and toilsome jonrnpy, is said to have bidden then eat whatevpr they met with on thp road, inc'tißlfi|j#eptife8 t - *tnne<v and all poisonous and 1 oxions thing?. From that dnyi 1 is st.-it;=dth:.fc Aisnipiias became a s>ct, and have p er since »een -~\A(- to eat that which, is injurious ti other men without hnrrr to themselves, ihefew' reprea n a tives of he sec now injjondrp certainly d<«o|lß"^eraavTnfi'e ' th'ngfi Dressed **ifl * t-hsr whitn toHps, fastened n' thp w ist wit red snsl'es they t-ent thems^lvpp i i a s in'uir le on the Bta?e';ani fi>sfi go throngl what appears to be a rpli iou3 pc--vice prayers being al etna ed will •weird cants an'i torn torn chow -sei Then one o i^|iiuto^er auddenl dart forwHid/jUiod ind»il?es in a wi ? and fan^|sU(idavcH tvvirli g himsp]' about, iw^J^M^Airf 1 . ariDß and jer' inf hi« hend vi^rhMv f-m -ido ti "W tie rest meanwhile sine ing a') ntinr, yelling, and l« udlyTeat>Vi g h'ir «offi. tomß. Havinpf .ipp renily wrk d himself into an al n< st freuzie ! conditioiK)ftl|^ flfeti^f plaovfe his feet«ofetfia fdge^of a sharp -sword held by two r-.f •« eompaniois. v yi* stands upright 1 i*rsflf, »nd to al «rp>a<noce ./»ii l hout dis om'ost. Th»a)Wßre \s * ot itoitf to.,- pliyirg and chanting a Hiinofhe mm o n'.s to the from, a d having indivg ■ I in varions antics, d^onrs a 1 ye srorploD,"placea ronnd hi« nnk d wsia aVope?pf tfha i% kni t. and ' a' loWß#eHn^dr-©tuht -persons from a.'iong ihu Hpoe-ato-s fc» pall with ltt*htfm*eng'tti at ench end. A !lifrd^rt{Wt« part of d li c snalcn. MffSiii^fir^ori skewers thmnph his ears, cheeks and arms, and a f th leba and. places Ins 1 are feet upoi gJ^TOlftnd' forces a skew,: fn!^fhe !l i*i.> 1 6fli-sabd6mpn. AftPi MWIW * tile "« $» fdrra' rs fall fl.it rs^Pi-P'S Xj 3 . T'^ble con rj i ion foi &&&$$ *Vs&s tyf a Ppear tc recover cboßci6n*he. c s, ' and res ; im« their places in $\g^semicircle. The j 6iformpncfi^ as a, .whole, pf f v a, ex raordiTOry^,»r(F<jiir?ouß' ch -vb/'Cor though some of ils features ure decidedly repulsive.