SECTS.
Although in olden times the Moslems were both cruel and fanatical in
forcing their religion upon conquered nations, the Turks of to-day
are exceedingly tolerant, and unlike the Mohammedans of Syria and Asia
Minor, who abhor every denomination of Christians, permit Protestant,
Roman Catholic, and Greek chapels to be erected without opposition
in the neighbourhood of Constantinople.
Indeed, at this present time, the Sheyees, as the followers of Ali
are called, are hated by the orthodox party, or Sünnees, far more
intensely than any sects of Christians are.
However, notwithstanding the religious warfare that rages between the
heads of these two great parties, almost every description of worship
is tolerated by the Government, and there are as many Dissenters
therefore in Constantinople as could be found in London. One of the
most popular sects, especially amongst the lower classes, is that
of the Dancing Dervishes, and it is a curious though a somewhat
humiliating spectacle, to see by what extraordinary means men seek
to do homage to their Creator.
The Dervishes assemble every Tuesday and Friday, the ceremonial being
the same on both days. On arriving at the Tekké, or place of worship,
we were taken to a large room on the upper storey. A gallery ran round
three sides of this apartment, portions of it being partitioned off
for the use of the Sultan and of Turkish ladies.
A large circular space is railed off in the centre of the room and
reserved for the Dervishes. A few women and children, some Turkish
officers and soldiers, were also seated in the gallery near us. No
other foreigners were present besides ourselves.
About twenty Dervishes speedily arrived, and their Mollah or Sheik,
a venerable old man, with a long white beard, seated himself before
the niche that indicated the direction of Mecca. The Dervishes stood
before him in a semicircle, without shoes, their arms crossed upon
their breasts, and their eyes humbly cast upon the ground. They were
all without exception pallid and haggard, and apparently belonged
to quite the lower classes. One was a mere boy of about thirteen or
fourteen, another was blind, a third was a negro.
After a few sentences, recited from the Koran, the Dervishes, headed
by their mollah, began to march slowly round and round the enclosure,
adapting their steps to the music (if it could be so called) of a
tom-tom and a sort of flute, that from time to time uttered a low
melancholy wail.
After having made four or five rounds, the mollah returned to his
seat, and the Dervishes, throwing off their cloaks, appeared in white
jackets and long yellow petticoats.
The mollah began to pray aloud, and, as if inspired by the prayer
to which they listened with upturned faces, the Dervishes began to
turn round; slowly at first, but then as the heavenly visions became
more and more vivid, they extended their arms above their heads,
they closed their eyes, and their countenances showed that they were
in a trance of ecstatic joy.
The mollah ceased to pray, but round and round went the whirling
figures, faster and faster. It was a wonderful sight, so many men
moving with such rapidity, all apparently unconscious, yet never did
one touch the other.
The only sound heard was the occasional flutter of a petticoat,
and the unearthly noise of the music from the gallery, for as the
movements became more rapid, so did the tom-tom increase in vehemence,
and the wailings of the flute became more and more dismally dreadful.
The effect was singular upon us spectators in the gallery. After a
time many of our neighbours seemed to become, as it were, infected
with the extraordinary scene below, their eyes became fixed, and they
began rocking themselves to and fro in rhythm with the movements of
the Dervishes.
We were also becoming quite giddy from assisting at such a fatiguing
religion, when, happily for us, the mollah bowed his head; in an
instant each man stopped short, and bowed as quietly as if nothing
had happened.
A few prayers and some sentences from the Koran were again recited,
and the Dervishes, who were in a state of heat and exhaustion quite
distressing to see, resumed their cloaks. They then knelt while more
prayers were said. Each man then kissed the hand of the sheik and
those of his brother Dervishes. A blessing was pronounced, to which
the Dervishes responded by a cry, or rather howl, of Allah-il-Allah,
and the ceremony was over. Having seen it, we no longer wondered at the
pallid worn-out appearance of the worshippers, for the exhaustion both
of mind and body must be very great. The object of the whirling is to
distract the mind from earthly things, so as to enable the worshipper
to concentrate himself upon the inexpressible joys of Paradise.
The exhibition, however, on the whole was painful. It is always
sad to see Our Heavenly Father worshipped in a degrading manner by
His children.
The Dancing Dervishes are said to be popular. They mostly lead
blameless, inoffensive lives, and are very charitable.
Although the ceremonies of the Howling Dervishes have been much
modified, and though many of the revolting cruelties they inflicted
upon themselves have been suppressed by law, still the hideous
howls and frantic actions to which they yield, as the inspiration
possesses them, make their mode of worship a scene at which no woman
can properly assist.
Passing one day in a caïque by a Tekké where the service of Howling
Dervishes was going on, we were arrested by the most tremendous and
savage yell that imagination can picture. So hideous and prolonged
was the howl, that it seemed as if it must have come from a menagerie
of wild beasts rather than from the throats of human beings.
These miserable fanatics begin their worship by placing their arms
on each other's shoulders, they then draw back a step, and advancing
suddenly, each man with a tremendous and savage yell howls forth,
"Allah-Allah-Allah-hoo!" which must be repeated a thousand times
uninterruptedly. Their countenances become livid, the foam flies from
their lips, many of them fall on the floor in strong convulsions,
from which they only rise to inflict cruel and horrid tortures upon
their own wretched bodies.
The stream that runs through the Bosphorus from the Black Sea to the
Sea of Marmora is so strong that it is almost impossible for a vessel
to stem the current unless aided by steam. We thankfully, therefore,
accepted the kind offer of the captain of the English man-of-war to
take us in tow up to Beyuk'dere, a village near the entrance of the
Black Sea.
The yacht was made fast apparently to the frigate, and off we set,
but such was the force of the stream that, at an awkward corner near
Bebek, the immense hawser, that looked as if nothing could break it,
snapped in two like a bit of thread, and the yacht spun round with
the velocity of an opera-dancer. Happily the danger had been foreseen
and guarded against, but we were swept so close in against the shore
that the jib-boom knocked down a piece of garden railing, and nearly
spitted a most respectable old Turk, who was sitting calmly smoking
on his terrace. Some time and much patience were required before the
yacht could be again attached to the frigate, but at last two hawsers
made her fast, and we proceeded on our way up the Bosphorus.
This beautiful stream is very unique in its characteristics, for
while the waters have the depth, brilliancy, and life of the sea,
its shores are cultivated and wooded like the banks of a river. The
gentle sloping hills are covered with dwelling-houses and kiosks, while
the terraces and gardens of stately palaces line the shore. The Turks
have much taste, and are also great lovers of flowers. The gardens,
therefore, are well laid out, and generally well kept. The climate also
is favourable, though the winters are cold, snow sometimes lying on
the ground for many days. The beautiful American trumpet-creeper grows
in perfection, and may be seen hanging over almost every garden wall,
its large bunches of orange-coloured flowers being in lovely contrast
with the brilliant green foliage. Orange trees and myrtles do well,
although they do not attain the same size and luxuriance as in Sicily
and Greece.
Turkish houses are exceedingly picturesque in appearance. They are
seldom more than two storeys high, have many irregular projections,
and the overhanging roofs extend considerably beyond the walls. They
are usually built of wood, and are painted white, stone colour,
or pale yellow.
Both inside and out they look exquisitely clean; indeed, inside
not a speck of dust is to be seen, the floors are covered with
beautiful matting, and the walls are usually painted a delicate
cream colour. But, alas! a Turkish house is but a whited sepulchre,
for beneath this pure surface vermin prevail to such an extent that
at night they come out by hundreds. It is a horrible plague, but by
constantly painting and the free use of turpentine, most foreigners
succeed in time in ridding their houses of these torments.
We once made a painful experience of the deceptiveness of
appearances. During the summer, our evil angel induced us, and the
Countess S--, the wife of one of the diplomats, to accept an invitation
from a very rich Armenian merchant to assist at the marriage of his
daughter. The fêtes were as usual to extend over three days, and we
were to be his guests for that period.
The house was magnificent in size, and gorgeously decorated with gold,
and velvet, and satin. The dinner, or supper, also was as grand as
French and Turkish culinary art could make it. Our entertainers were
kind and agreeable people, so we looked forward to a very pleasant
visit.
We three Frank ladies had assigned to us as a sleeping apartment an
immense saloon, superbly gilt and painted, but having little furniture
besides a crimson satin divan, trimmed with gold fringe, that ran
round three sides of the room. Adjoining was a small bath-room,
and our maids had a room at some distance in another wing of the house.
On retiring to our apartment at night, we found three
comfortable-looking beds had been prepared for us in the usual Eastern
fashion--that is, laid on the floor.
Each bed had two thick soft mattresses, covered with pale green
satin; the pillows were of the same rich material, and covered with
cambric; the sheets were also of cambric, beautifully fine and white,
and trimmed with broad lace. The coverlets were of green satin,
embroidered, and fringed with gold.
Altogether our couches looked very inviting, especially after a long
afternoon of civilities, and talk, besides the great dinner, and the
long wedding ceremony, which did not take place till midnight.
The lights were put out, and we had just sunk into the pleasant
half-conscious dreaminess of a first sleep, when we were thoroughly
awakened by a sudden pattering and rush of little feet behind the
walls, around, above, and below us, while sundry sharp squeaks
announced the neighbourhood of rats.
However, travellers do not allow their night's rest to be disturbed
for trifles; so, covering up our heads, in order to shut out the
disagreeable noise, we resolved not to hear, and tried to go to sleep.
But it would not do; an unendurably loud squeal close to Madame S.'s
head made her jump up hastily, thinking the rats must be in the room.
We lighted the candles, and then--our feelings can better be imagined
than described, when we beheld an invading army of horrors worse than
rats, descending the walls, marching over the floor, and creeping
out of every little crack and hollow in the woodwork.
In blank dismay we looked at each other. What was to be done? The
divans and ottomans had already been taken possession of by the
enemy. There was not a cane chair or a table in the room, or we would
have mounted upon them.
Help was impossible; there were no bells, we did not feel justified
in disturbing the household, and we were ignorant of the whereabouts
of our maids' room.
We were in despair, when a sudden bright inspiration flashed into the
mind of one of us. The bath, the clean white marble, seemed to offer
a safe refuge. In an instant we were there, and wrapping ourselves
up as well as we could, there we remained till morning. Luckily for
us it was a warm summer's night, or we should have caught our deaths
of cold, for we were so eager to escape from our hateful enemies that
we should have accepted any risk.
There we sat in forlorn discomfort--melancholy warning of the usual
end of a party of pleasure. Luckily a sense of the ludicrousness of
our position made us merry, for as each caught sight of the other's
dismayed white face, we could not help bursting into fits of laughter,
especially when we thought what our friends would have said could
they have seen us.
When day came the foe retired; but as speedily as ordinary civility
would permit, we took our leave, obliged to pretend important business
in Constantinople, and resisting all the kind pressing of our host
and his family, for nothing would have induced us to pass another
night in such a chamber of horrors.
Our poor maids had slept, but showed lamentable traces of the presence
of the foe, who evince decided partiality for fresh and newly-arrived
foreigners.
An Armenian wedding has many forms that are akin to those of both
the Turkish and Christian services. The ceremony is performed
at midnight. The bride is so muffled up in shawls, and veils, and
flowing garments, that face and figure are alike invisible. The fair
damsel is not seen, but the mass of superb silk, lace, and flashing
jewels placed in the middle of the room, indicate her presence. The
bridegroom is asked, as he stands opposite to her, "Will you take
this girl to be your wife, even if she be lame, deaf, deformed, or
blind?" to which, with admirable courage and resignation, he replies,
"I will take her." The officiating priest then joins their hands,
a silk cord is tied round the head of each, and, after many prayers
and much singing, they are pronounced man and wife.