Page:H. D. Traill - From Cairo to the Soudan Frontier.djvu/270

 for the best part of half an hour, and that without ever once calling upon the spectator, in the words of the well-known comic ballad, to "see me reverse," is an accomplishment of far greater rarity and merit.

It seems, moreover, to give proof of a far higher form of religious exaltation. The grunters and groaners, and tom-tom beaters and head-waggers are mere energumens. This man has all the air of a genuine mystic. It is impossible to contemplate the countenance of this twirling fanatic, and the contrast of its strange quietude with the ceaseless motion of his body, without being powerfully impressed by it. As the endless gyrations continue the position of the arms is repeatedly varied. Now both are extended at full length; now one is dropped by the side while the other remains still stretched out; now one, now both are bent till the tips of the fingers touch the shoulders. But all the time the eyes remain closed and the face wears the same expression of perfect and