Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 November 1894 — MANY MOURNERS. [ARTICLE]

MANY MOURNERS.

Description of a Funeral in Distant Es-ypt. From along the banks of the Mahmoudiyeh canal one day I saw a sad hut interesting sight, says a foreign traveler. Away in the distance, on the opposite side, a large uurnber of people were coming along, and upon their nearer approach I saw that they formed a funeral procession. Two sheikhs, with long blue tunics and white turbans, led the way; and immediately behind them were the men, to the number of twenty-six, chanting in a dismal way: “La Allah ila Allah, wa Mohammed ruscol Allah!” (There is no God but Goc(, and Mohammed is the apostle of God.) The funeral costumes were their every-day dresses, showing wide contrasts of color, some being blue, others black, yellow, white, and brown. Then followed the bier, a young Moslem lad being carried to his long home. It was covered with large native rugs and was supported by four men, relieved iu turn by others. The women and children came next, about sixty in all, the women weeping and wailing and waving handkerchiefs in front of them, now and again filling the still air with fearful shrieks. The women were dressed in the usual somber blue covers and tbeir faces were closely veiled. They baited opposite to the spot where I stood, and the men got on board of one of the tiny ferries that ply backward and forward over the canal, taking the bier with them, and were rowed safely to the other side, the women meanwhile waiting and wailing for the dead youth. The boat, which was about twenty feet long and eight feet in beam, having returned the women and children then got on board, most of them sitting, and they were pushed across and landed. The procession then reformed and the wailing continued. The procession wended its way for a considerable distance along the hanks of the canal under a grove of sycamore trees. The sight left a painful impression upon my mind. The day was beautiful, the birds piping out their joys overhead. Everything seemed happy except these poor Arabs, without a hope to cheer the dark tomb.