A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. Salvation by Torture at Kair Man.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 221, 24 September 1887, Page 3

A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. Salvation by Torture at Kair Man.

The Hon. Ukokgk Cuuzon, M.P., in the " FoRTNKJILTLY KeVIEW." Now I come to that which was the main incident of my stay in Kainvan. One of the peculiar features of the place is the number of zaonias, or colleges of religious orders, which there exist. Of these fraternities, which have each a separate dis" cipline and ritual, and number many thousand members, with correspondingbranches in all parts of the Mussulman world, the most iamous are those of tohe Zadria, Tijania, and Aissaonia ; and of these three by far the most remarkable is the last. This sect of dervishes was founded by one Mahomet Ibn Aissa, a celebrated marabout of Mcquinez, in Morocco : and his disciples, who arc scattered tlnough all the principal coasttowns of North Africa, but are especially congregated at Mequinez and Kairwan, perpetuate his teaching, and open to themselves the gates of heaven by self -mutilation when in ;i state of religious ecstasy or trance. Aware of the number and importance of this sect at Kairwan, I was very anxious to witness one of their dkr*, or services, and to form my own opinion. Unluckilr, it appeared that 1 had just missed their weekly ceremonial, which had been held on the very evening before I arrived. A happy thought of one of my Maltese friends enabled mo to rectify this mischance, and to satisfy my curiosity.

A Religious Orgy. After describing the wild dance preceding the final ecstasy, the writer says :—: — As the ecstasy approached its height and the fully initiated became mefboon or possessed, they broke from the stereotyped litany into demoniacal grinning and ferocious and bestial cries. These writhing and contorted objects were no longer rational human beings, but savage animals, caged brutes howling madly in the delirium of hunger or of pain. They growled like bears, they barked like jackals, they roared like lions, they laughed like hyamas ; and eve>- and anon from the seething rank rose a diabolical shriek, like the scream of a dying horse, or the yell of a tortured fiend. And steadily the while in the background resounded the implacable reverberation of the drums. The climax was now reached ; the requisite pitch of cataleptic inebriation had been obtained, and the lites of Ais>a were about to begin. From the crowd at the door

A Wild Figure Broke Forth, tore oil' hi^ upper clothing 1 till he was naked to the waist, and thi owing away his fez, bared a head close-shaven save for one long and dishevelled lock that, springing from the scalp, fell ovei his forehead like some gristly and funereal plume. A long 1 knife, somewhat resembling a cutlass, handed to him by the sheikh, who had risen to his feet and who directed the phenomena that, ensued. Waving it wildly about his head and protruding the forepart of his figure, the fanatic brought it down blow after blow against his bared stomach, and drew it savagely to and fro again -.fc the unprotected skin. There showed the marks of a long and livid weal, but no blood spurted from the gnsh. In the intervals between the strokes he ran swiftly from one side to the other of the open space, taking long stealthy stiides litce a panther about to spring, and seemingly so powerless over his own movements that he knocked blindly up against those who stood in his way, nearly upsetting them with the violence of the collision. Soveial long iron spits or prongs were produced and distributed ; these formidable implements were about two and a half feet in length, and sharply pointed, and they terminated at the handle in a circular wooden knob, about the of a large orange. There was great competition for the^e instruments of torture, which were used as follows- : Poising one in the air, an Ais-aoui would suddenly

Force the Point Into the Flesh of his own shoulder in front just below the shoulder-blade. Thus transfixed, and holding the weapon aloft, he stiode swiftly up and down. Suddenly, at a, signal, he fell on his knees, still forcing the point into his body, and keeping the wooden head uppermost. Then their started up another disciple armed with a big wooden mallet, and he, after a few preliminary taps, 1 ising high • on tiptoe with uplifted weapon would, with an appalling yell, bring it down with all his forca upon the wooden knob, dii\ing the point home through the shoulder of his comrade. Another seized an iron skewer, and placing the point within his open jaw^, forced it steadily through his cheek until ifc protruded a couple of inches on the outside. He barked savagely like a dog, and foamed at the lips. Others, afflicted with exquisite spasms of hunger, knelt down before the chief, wimpering like children for food, and turning upon him imploring glances from fcheir glazed and bloodshot eyes. His control ovei: his following was supreme. Some he gratified, others he forbade. At a touch from him they were silent and relapsed into quiescence. One maddened wretch who, fancying himself some Mild beast, plunged to and fro, roaring horribly and biting and tearing with his teeth at whomever he met, was advancing, as I thought, with somewhat menacing purpose in my direction when he waB arrested by his superior and sent back cringing and cowed. For those whose ravenous appetites he was content to humour the most singular repast was prepared. A plate was brought in covered with

Huge Jagged Pieces of Broken Glass, as thick as a shattered soda-water bottle. With greedy chuckles and gurglings of delight one of the hungry ones dashed at it, crammed a handful into his mouth, and crunched it up as though it were some exquisite dainty, a fellow-disciple calmly stroking the exterior of his throat, with intent, I suppose, to lubricate the descent of the unwonted morpcls. A little child held up a snake or sandworm by the tail, placing the head between his teeth, and gulped it gleefully down. Several acolytes came in, carrying a big stem of the prickly pear, or fico d' 'lndia, whose leaves are a<< thick as a one-inch plank, and are armed with huge protecting thorns. This was ambrosia to the starving .saints ; they rushed at it with passionate emulation, tearing at the solid slab.3 with their teeth, and gnawing and munching the coarse fibres, regardless of % the thorns which pierced their tongues and cheeks as they swallowed them down. The most singular feature of all, and the one than almost defies belief, though it U none the less true, was this — that in no case did one drop of blood emerge from scar, or gash, or wound. This fact I observed most carefully, the mokaddem standing at my side, and each patient in turn coming to him when his self-imposed torture had been accomplished and the cataleptic frenzy had .spent its force. It was the chief who cunningly withdrew the blade from cheek or shoulder or body, rubbing over the spot what appeared to me to

be the saliva of his own mouth ; then he whispered an absolution in the ear of the disciple and kissed him on the forehead, whereupon the patient, but » moment before writhing: in maniacal transports, retired tranquilly and took his seat upon tne Moor. He seemed nono the worso for his recent paroxysm, and the wound was marked only by a livid blotch or a hectic {lush. As I witnessed the disgusting spoctacle and listened to the pandemonium of sounds, my head swam, my eyes became dim, my senses reeled, and I believe that in a few moments I must have fainted had not ono of my friends touched me on tho shoulder, and whispering that tho lrtokaddom was desh'ous that I should leave, escorted me hurriedly to the door. As I walked back to my quarters, and long after through the still night, the boat of the tambours continued, and 1 heard the distant hum of voices, broken at interval* by an isolated and piercing cry. Perhaps yet further and more revolting orgies were celebrated after 1 had left. I had not seen, as othor travellers had done, the chewing and swallowing of red-hot cinders, or tho harmless handling and walking upon live coals. I had been spared that which others havo described as tho climax- of the gluttonous debauch, viz., tho introduction of a live sheep, which then and there is savagely torn to pieces and devoured raw by these unnatural banqueters. But 1 had seen enough, and as I sank to sleep, my agitated fancy pursued a thousand avenues of thought, confounding in one grim medley all the carnivorous horrors of fact and fable and fiction ; and loud above all the din and discord tho tale of ohe false prophets of Carmel, awakened by the train of association, rang in my eyes, and I seemed to hear intoned with remorseless reiteration tho words, "And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till tho blood gushed out upon them." Tho facts which 1 Ikv\c described, the absolute genuineness of u Inch will, I doubt not, bt* vouched for by orhcis who have had a similar experience to myself, speak for them&elves.