Before the ball in the evening there was a visit
to the dervishes — howling and whirling dervishes;
some, holding between their teeth a burning coal or
a red-hot iron, turning on their heels with a star-
tling rapidity, others working themselves up into
fearful convulsions or thrusting into their ears,
their tongues and other parts of the body, sharp in-
struments, until they succumbed under the fatigue
or the pain ; others chewing cactus leaves, or eating
live serpents and scorpions. All this was viewed with

296



VISITS TO GEEMANY AND EGYPT

more or less revulsion and some, with morbid curi-
osity. Of most interest to the Empress, were
their religious exercises, which appear to consist
chiefly in the recital of zikrs. Seated or standing^
they form a circle, and then sing or scream out the
*'illalla," '*illalah," until their strength is spent.
They accompany this wild song with movements of
the body, and throw their heads forwards and back-
wards, and from right to left. One of them goes
into the middle of the circle and dances, with verti-
ginous rapidity, a sort of two-step valse, ceasing
only when he is utterly worn out and groaning with
fatigue. He is then immediately replaced by an-
other who does the same thing. These fakir rites
are now well known in the West; but at the time of
her visit to Egypt this was not the case, and these
strange ceremonies made a deep impression on
Eugenie that has never worn off.
