The apartment to which they were then conducted by the guide was in the form of an octagon, and of considerable dimensions. The roof was supported by columns, which also sustained a small front gallery and a larger one on the side, latticed for women so that they could see and hear without being seen by the audience or the celebrants. Around the enclosure which contained the dancing-floor was a rail to keep the spectators at a proper distance. The visitors had to squat on the floor next to this rail on sheepskins, a very uncomfortable position for the ladies. The front gallery was occupied by a reader and the music. A prayer carpet was spread on the floor opposite the door, for the sheik, or chief, of the monastery. About twenty of the dervishes entered, one by one or in groups, and squatted on the floor like so many tailors. They were dressed in loose, brown robes, and looked very grave, as though it was a religious exercise, as it really was, upon which they were about to enter. The sheik was a venerable old man, with a long white beard, and bowed with age. He entered and squatted on the prayer carpet. Like all the others, he wore a lightish brown hat, in the shape of a flower-pot placed upside down on his head. There were boys, and men of eighty or more, though the average age appeared to be about forty. They all had an expression of religious enthusiasm. The sheik repeated some passages from the Koran, and then one in the front gallery intoned something from a book, which none of our party could understand. After some more sentences from the sheik, the dervishes followed a leader several times around the room, pausing at the prayer carpet, bowing low to the sheik. Two of them crossed their arms on their breasts, and, facing each other, bowed low. Turning on their heels they faced two others, and went through the same ceremony; and it was repeated till all had passed the carpet. When the bowing was finished, the head of the line slipped off into the centre of the room and began to whirl or waltz. He was followed by all the others, till the whole of them were gyrating in two circles around the circus. The music sounded like the thrumming of a banjo, with another instrument. When the men engaged in the service had warmed up they threw off their brown robes, and appeared in a suit of white, worn under the other. It consisted of a jacket, and a skirt reaching nearly to the floor. With no cessation the whirling was kept up for half an hour. Not one of them knocked against another, and their skirts were spread out as far as they could be extended. They were all barefoot, and took a regular step, and their movements were very graceful. The arms were elevated in set positions, which were uniform with all. When the whirling was finished, the dervishes all passed before the sheik again, the reader intoned more sentences, and the service was finished. "What in the world does it all mean?" asked Mrs. Belgrave when they were in the street.