Cruising among the Caribbees, summer days in winter months . FT AND SUPERSTITION IGNORANCE AND CREDULITY OF THE NEGROES — OBEAH, WHAT IT IS AND HOW PRACTISED SIMILAR BELIEFS IN OTHER NATIONS AN ANSI, JUMBEE AND DUPPY STORIES SPIRITUALISM AND HYPNOTISM No account of a tour in the Caribbees would becomplete without reference to the superstitions ofthe negroes. One cannot talk with them, or visittheir 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. Thesehave led them to frightful practices in the
Cruising among the Caribbees, summer days in winter months . FT AND SUPERSTITION IGNORANCE AND CREDULITY OF THE NEGROES — OBEAH, WHAT IT IS AND HOW PRACTISED SIMILAR BELIEFS IN OTHER NATIONS AN ANSI, JUMBEE AND DUPPY STORIES SPIRITUALISM AND HYPNOTISM No account of a tour in the Caribbees would becomplete without reference to the superstitions ofthe negroes. One cannot talk with them, or visittheir 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. Thesehave led them to frightful practices in the past, andI was credibly informed, that while there is apparentadvance in knowledge and civilization, there areplaces in the islands where dense superstition andbarbarous customs still prevail. Among these super-stitions none has been more potent than theObeah, concerning which I shall give some facts,derived chiefly from persons who from residence inthe West Indies and familiar acquaintance with thenegroes, have had abundant opportunities of observa- 86. A WEST INDIAN TYPE WITCHCRAFT AND SUPERSTITION 87 tion. Among the writers who have treated thesubject Pere Labat has been most frequently referredto, but more than two centuries have passed sincehis interesting work was published. It is still animportant aid to the tourist among the Caribbees,so far as general topography, natural history, andphenomena are concerned. But the state of society,and the manners and customs of the people, are muchchanged from what they were in his days. Carmi-chaels Domestic Manners of the People of the WestIndies ; West Indian Folk-lore, by Mary P. Milne;Hesketh J. Bells book upon Obeah, as well as thebooks of Mr. F. H. Ober, to whom I have more thanonce referred, contain chapters upon these subjects,and I have availed myself of all of them. The term Obeah is most probably derived from Obi, a word used on the east coast of Africa todenote witchcraft, sorcery, and fetichism in etymolog
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1895
