VOODOO.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume L, Issue 9001, 25 January 1906, Page 6

VOODOO.

A high priest of this abominable cult ha. been on trial in Havana for sacrificing a white baby. Ho demanded the victim o{ a sick negress who applied to him for relief, and it was offered up to the holy snake — doubtless with the horribly grotesque solemnities described by Sir Spencer St. John many years ago. A dozen negroes were arraigned with him as accomplices; but we learn that there was great difficulty in obtaining ,evidenoe, and those who knew anything of the matter easily believe it. But the word "Voodoo" may not be familiar to all. It is the term used

in the French West Indies, and apparently tlie Spanish, for the awful superstition we call Obeah, derived, they say, from "Vaudois," those harmless Protestants of .the> Savoy whom Cromwell de fended and Milton commemorated in a noble sonnet. Whenever negroes are found it prevails more or less, but we hope th.it actual murders like this are not committed in the British possessions. It cannot b& said that they are impossible. The veneration for Obi is so strong, -and the terror it inspires, with good reason, so abject, that white men only hear of its existence by some rare accident, and witnesses can hardly ever be obtained. There was a bad case in. Martinique thirty years ago, when Sir G. Dcs Voeux was Governor. The body of a child was found, mutilated id a fashion which proved to experts that :t: t had been sacrificed. A man perfectly wall known to the police as one of the high priests was 'arrested. It came out that he had been accused years before of offer-

ing one of his own children; even after that a baby had disappeared in the neighborhood of his hut. But though a large reward for evidence was advertised, with % guarantee of protection. NO WITNESSES COULD BE FOUND

When Sir Spencer St. John published

his account of .human sacrifice and semireligious cannibalism in Hayti, good people were rather indignant than Shocked. It could not be true— the negroes ot Hayti are Christians'. Perhaps there are some who still doubt, but they are not found among those who have experience The Christian profession is not necessarily a bar. Mr Aldridge, District Commissioner of Sherbro, says: "The very best natives, even those educated in mission schools, believe in the unseen working of 'fetish medicine.' I do not think any native could be found who is not in bondage to this slavish superstition in some form or other." Colonel Ellis tolls some grim stories in his "History of the Gold Coaal." In those countries, naturally, there is less concealment than in the We.-t Indies, where, though a great proportion. of the blacks live moie or less in dread o f Obi, we may hope that the initiated are a" small minority. But, it may be asked, what is this awful cult? And no one. perhaps, can answer with confidence. It is the working only that we know in detail. There is a saored snake, to which offerings are made — fowls, pork, fruit, and, for a great effort, children or even adults. Worship is always at night, in i lonely place, generally a wood. Devotees jisk fchie aid of Obi to cure sickness, to gain an object, or to avenge themselves, and it is granted for a consideration. Then .the priests or priestesses "make medicine" " — that is, charms, philtres and poisons "Nothing can be done by words merely," says Mr Aldridge, "they must be ACCOMPANIED BY SOME MYSTERIOUS RITE,

in which secretly-prepared leaves and herbs play the most prominent part. Distance is no bar to the potency of the "medicine"; people twenty "fifties away are supposed to be. as- much, affected, as if 'present. Absolute secrecy -is kept, not because an oath lias oeen taken, but because everyone believes that disclosure ,wx>uld be. fatal. In all the years I have "been in the country I have never yet succeeded, in penetrating the inner mys- ! teries. lam satisfied that no one outside ifchfc society really knows what the secrets *are." But everyone, who has practical, in West- Africa knows what the conseijuences are. It was the Bishop of Sierra. Leone who wrote : ' "Small social »ga*herings are- almost unknown, for fear \6i poison." The Chief' Justice of Cape JCoa'st Castle protested, in a moment of despair, that he was "not master of his jownt Court!"—^always he felt himself en-> • droned by influences unseen and intangible, which compelled hira> to take a cer ;tain course, even though lie felt almost sure. it was unjust. When lawyers, witnesses,, police, interpreters^ and officialsare banded under fear of death to sustain a falsehood, how can an English Judge, who does not even speak the language, make the truth prevail ? One who showed himself too. zealous might probably receive a hint in the form of attacks which the doctors could not understand. But ,the Fetish priests were very RELUCTANT TO TAKE A WHITE MAN'S LIFE. It might cause trouble, and, besides, merchants of experience often contribute liberally to their funds— for value received. If a 'servant absconds with property, if a debtor will not pay, or makes a fraudulent bankruptcy, the prudent trader does not think of applying to the law. He puts the "Fetish" in motion, and rarely does it fail him. We ourselves were once staying, wdth one' of the principal merchants at Cape Coast His safe was stolen one night, and he " suspected the cashier. A word to the chief living opposite brought two men, who silently led the cashier away, pale but-unresisting. He disappeared for a fortnight. Then a great part of the money was restored, and the next day lie resumed his stool — but a shadow of his former self. I was assured, however, that no physical torture would bo used. In Old Calabar; European traders eagerly seek initiations to the local ! Obeah, as far as the third gradis, which entitles them to sound the "Egbo horn" when a debtor will not pay ; if he refuseafter that, the Fetish deals with him. There are said to be ten grades of Egbo, of which the lower seems to be inoffensive; but, on the whole, it is an organisa-

tion. lik-e the rest, for implanting terror, uphold by systematic horrors. But we would not deny that the influence works for the public benefit in some matters. All these superstitions were carried by slaves to the West Indies, where there was no room for their good service, buo nn unlimited field for devilry. How far they still survive in British islands is a question which the white residents seldom I cara to discuss. But Obeah was

A REAL AND TERRIBLE FORCE there a century ago. Bryan Edwards tells of a plantation actually depopulated by an old negress from Africa. At length, in 1772, she was identified. A quantity of clay balls, worked up with rags and hair, larded with dogs' and cats' teeth, were found in hier hut; also eggshells, full of a gummy substance beyond the science of the colonial doctors. And feathers were "everywhere"; they play a great part in the rites of Obi. Not many years ago the old Courthouse at Barbados was demolished, and under the floor, beneath the Judge's seat, a vast quantity of feathers came to light, with clay balls, bones, innumerable odds and ends of rub bish, placed there to compel his AVorsliip to view a case as Obeah wished.— Pall Mall Gazette.