ANOTHER VIEW OF THE FINAL
PHASE.
]
We have published several photographs of religious mendicants in
India, showing the extraordinary penances they inflict upon themselves
to gain merit--and incidentally the alms of the faithful--but none
more striking than that here reproduced, which shows a fakir at
Jubbulpore seated on a couch of sharp-pointed nails. Here, with
eyes closed, wrapped in profound meditation, he sits all day long,
apparently oblivious to the pricking of the spikes. There is no
deception about the business; the nails are quite sharp, but probably
long usage has hardened the fakir's epidermis to such an extent that
the discomfort is hardly felt.
[Illustration: AN INDIAN FAKIR SITTING ON A COUCH OF SHARP-POINTED
NAILS.
_From a photo. by H. Hands._
]
Twenty years ago, when the villagers living on the borders of Reigate
Heath, Surrey, had no place of worship nearer than the parish church,
a service was held in a schoolroom close by, and was so well attended
that the authorities looked around for a suitable permanent building.
The erection of a church was out of the question, but there stood
on the Heath the remains of an old mill, a picturesque feature in a
beautiful bit of landscape. Inspection showed that once the rats were
got rid of a comparatively small outlay would furnish and render the
mill fit for public worship, and soon it was opened as the Chapel of
the Holy Cross. The circular brick walls of this odd chapel are mostly
ivy-clad, and as the entrance is reached the vestry is seen on the
left. Originally it is reputed to have been a carpenter's shed, and,
except that a few pegs and chairs have been added, its primitive state
is well preserved. The interior of the chapel arouses interest. Four
buttresses, four feet thick by six feet in height, serve as rests for
two massive beams, which cross each other in the centre and support
an upright shaft, cracked with age and strongly bound with iron bands.
The roof slopes down from the vertex of the shaft to the circular
wall, and consequently the building, though no more than thirty feet
in diameter, is of considerable loftiness. The buttresses make four
natural alcoves. The entrance door stands in one, and immediately
opposite is the altar; the harmonium is placed in a third, and the
bell-ringer sits close beside it and rings his bell; the fourth is
occupied by the congregation. The chairs are arranged so as to leave
an aisle from the doorway to the altar, down which only one person can
pass at a time. Above the altar and the doorway are the windows. The
light is fairly good, but there are glass lanterns filled with candles
in the alcoves, and a candelabrum holding nine lights hangs in front
of the altar. All the seats are free, and as many as fifty people can
be accommodated. There is no pulpit, the preacher standing between the
prayer-desk and the lectern. A nominal rental of a shilling a year is
paid to the owner of this curious church.
[Illustration: A SURREY WINDMILL WHICH IS USED AS A CHURCH.
_From a Photo. by View and Portrait Supply Co._]
[Illustration: A GOLD COAST FETISH, USED TO KEEP EVIL SPIRITS AWAY
FROM THE HOUSE--IT IS SAID TO BE COVERED WITH HUMAN SKIN.
_From a Photograph._]
The horrible-looking head seen in the photograph below is a fetish
which was, until quite recently, in use among the natives of Sierra
Leone. It is said to be covered with human skin, and the gruesomeness
of its appearance was intentionally exaggerated, as it was intended
to act as a kind of household god and a defence against evil spirits.
These superstitions, it is interesting to note, are gradually becoming
extinct under the pressure of British civilization.
[Illustration: OUR DUSKY ADMIRER--A ZULU BELLE LOOKING AT THE PICTURES
IN "THE WIDE WORLD."
_From a Photograph._]
]
The photograph reproduced on this page was taken on the station
platform at Ginginhlovu, in Zululand. The young Zulu girl here seen
was waiting for a train, and had picked up a WIDE-WORLD MAGAZINE which
had been inadvertently left behind by some passenger--no doubt much to
his sorrow. Although the vast majority of the natives cannot read or
understand English, they are very fond of looking at pictures, and
this Zulu belle was much interested in her find.
[Illustration: THE MAP-CONTENTS OF "THE WIDE WORLD MAGAZINE," WHICH
SHOWS AT A GLANCE THE LOCALITY OF EACH ARTICLE AND NARRATIVE OF
ADVENTURE IN THIS NUMBER.]