Now they stand up and form a circle together with the laymen, when the chief begins in a yelling voice to recite prayers from the Koran; by degrees those forming the circle join in, and scream in concert.

For the first hour some degree of order is still preserved; the performers rest frequently to husband their strength, which will be exerted to the utmost at the close of the ceremony.

But then the sight becomes as horrible as one can well imagine any thing.

They vie with one another in yelling and howling, and torture their faces, heads, and bodies into an infinite variety of fantastic attitudes.

The roaring, which resembles that of wild beasts, and the dreadful spasmodic contortions of the actors' countenances, render this religious ceremony a horrible and revolting spectacle.
The men stamp with their feet on the ground, jerk their heads backwards and forwards, and certainly throw themselves into worse contortions than those who are described as having been in old times "vexed with a devil." During the exercise they snatch the covering from their heads, and gradually take off all their clothes, with the exception of shirt and trousers.