328 OF THE DERVISES. 



receives the candidate, and assigns him a room with his brethren ; 

 thenceforth he participates in all the ceremonies and privileges of the 

 order. 



The Mevlevi dervises devote themselves twice every week to pub- 

 lic exercises, that take place on Tuesdays and Fridays, after the mid- 

 day prayer, in their oratory. This oratory is an octagon hall, encircled 

 by two galleries, one above the other, on the ground floor. The space 

 enclosed by the lower gallery is inlaid by boards, fixed by large 

 round-headed nails, placed at short distances from each other, which 

 arrest the dervises in their rotatory movements. The only ornament 

 to be seen in this hall is the cypher of the founder, written in large 

 golden letters and placed in the upper gallery on the wall fronting 

 Mecca. The place for the sheik, indicated by a sheep-skin on which 

 he kneels, is in the hall underneath the cypher. The orchestra is 

 opposite to the cypher. On one side, in a rather elevated position, 

 is a box with a lattice, appropriated to the grand seignor when he is 

 present at the exercises of the dervises. 



At noon the doors of the oratory are thrown open and the crowds 

 rush in and fill the galleries. Shortly after the dervises come in one 

 by one, bend to the cypher of the founder, and kneel down round the 

 hall ; they prostrate themselves with their forehead to the earth, 

 then rise up and squat down upon their heels. The sheik enters in 

 turn, bends submissively to the cypher of the founder, goes and sits 

 down in his place, and begins to recite the prayer called Fa? -ha.* 

 After prayer the dervises, standing in the department of the or- 

 chestra, chant a Persian ode to the sound of instrumental music. 



During this interval the rest of the dervises enter and take their 

 places, after similar greetings and prostrations. When they are all 

 assembled, the orchestra, composed of small kettle-drums and flutes 

 made of bamboo, performs a sonata of measured cadence. Suddenly 

 the movement becomes extremely rapid ; the dervises then jump 

 up and make the circuit of the hall three times, at a slow pace, with 

 the sheik at their head. 



Having completed the third turn, the sheik stops and continues 

 standing ; each dervise passes him, bending lowly, and taking his 

 hand carries it to his lips and forehead, and commences turning 

 round. 



The dress of the dervises consists of an open vestment, one of the 

 corners of which is fastened by a long and broad gown of wool, con- 

 fined round the body by a girdle; these gowns are not all of the 

 same colour. 



The dervise, preparatory to turning round, holds out this gown, till 

 it forms the shape of a bell, and then pirouettes by himself, describing 

 a very narrow circle, while the instruments in the orchestra play an 

 air that regulates the movements of the dance. 



This air accompanies at the same time the chant of an ode, ge- 

 nerally moral and relating to the dervises, whose duties it recapitulates. 

 The number in the groups that whirl round is fixed at nine, eleven, 



* The Fat -ha is the first chapter of the Koran. This word comes from fet'-h, to 

 open. 



