XI
WITCHCRAFT AND SUPERSTITION

IGNORANCE AND CKBDULITY OF THE NEGEOES OBEAH,

WHAT IT IS AND HOW PRACTISED SIMILAR BELIEFS

IN OTHER NATIONS AN ANSI, JUMBBB AND DUPPT

STORIES SPIRITUALISM AND HYPNOTISM

No account of a tour in the Caribbees would be
complete without reference to the superstitions of
the negroes. One cannot talk with them, or visit
their cabins, or observe their habits, without recog-
nizing the fact that they are like children in their be-
lief in ghosts and devils and evil influences. These
have led them to frightful practices in the past, and
I was credibly informed, that while there is apparent
advance in knowledge and civilization, there are
places in the islands where dense superstition and
barbarous customs still prevail. Among these super-
stitions none has been more potent than the
"Obeah," concerning which I shall give some facts,
derived chiefly from persons who from residence in
the West Indies and familiar acquaintance with the
negroes, have had abundant opportunities of observa-

86




A WEST INDIAN TYPE



"WITCHCRAFT AND SUPERSTITION 87

tion. Among the writers who have treated the
subject P^re Labat has been most frequently referred
to, but more than two centuries have passed since
his interesting work was published. It is still an
important aid to the tourist among the Caribbees,
so far as general topography, natural history, and
phenomena are concerned. But the state of society,
and the manners and customs of the people, are much
changed from what they were in his days. Carmi-
chael's " Domestic Manners of the People of the West
Indies "; " "West Indian Folk-lore," by Mary P. Milne ;
Hesketh J. Bell's book upon " Obeah," as weU as the
books of Mr. F. H. Ober, to whom I have more than
once referred, contain chapters upon these subjects,
and I have availed myself of all of them.
