CALENDERS, a sort of Mahometan friars, so call-
ed from Santon Calender their founder. This Santon
went bare-headed, without a shirt, and with the skin of
a wild beast thrown over his shoulders. He wore a
kind of apron before, the strings of which were adorn-
ed with counterfeit precious stones. His disciples are
rather a sect of Epicureans than a society of religious.
They honour a tavern as much as they do a mosque;
and think they pay as acceptable worship to God by
the
the free use of his creatures, as others do by the greatest austerities and acts of devotion. They are called, in Persia and Arabia, Abdali, or Abdallat, i. e. persons consecrated to the honour and service of God. Their garment is a single coat, made up of a variety of pieces, and quilted like a rug. They preach in the market-places, and live upon what their auditors bestow on them. They are generally very vicious persons; for which reason they are not admitted into any houses.