Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1816-10-18
From the Kingston Jan. Royat Gaze1te
Of Aug. 10.

From, the Kingston Jan. Royas uaSes1e
of Aug. 20.
D;ed II Hannah Town on TUESDAY
n;aht. At 4 very advanced age, ,onls
pssgar. ! we'll known black man, as !. hay 2,
;rs hesn many years captain OF the
r ~. b Maroons. lie is the person
who II the year l7al, after 4 most 81 1
we're nersonal conflict. killed the no1e :,
dasnerate robher Three Fingered lac ! !,
who was supposed BY the negroes 20 Pc p,
nossessed Of supernatural powe 3, ana
aeemed inyuInerable from all attacks
In consequence Of this service, kesder
|race;yed an annual stipend from the go
! rnmert Of this island. lie did not
know his exact age, but said only q lew
DAYS ago, thathe vas a stout boy at tns
first peace with the Maroons ~ the year
|l7s9. -, -.
Three Fingered Jacis The following
account, published by Dr Mosely 20 ~ ms
|Treatises On Sugar, Of the combat De,
tween John Reeder and Three FINGERED
lack. a notorious runaway, which tooa
MACE on the eth January, HoI, neai
Mount Libanus, in St. Thomas's IN the n,
East will beread. it is presumed, VIII
some interest, on account OF ms feceh,
|dcatb John Reederreceiyed the reward
|ot one hundred dollars offered by the
proc !amation of Major General John bai,
ling. then Governor OF this Island, ahd
afterwards had an annual stipend OF
TWENTY-FIVE pounds. which was increased
of late years to thirty pounds, and Pald
under the poll-tax law.
Formerly there was no regular Hefliod
OF treating the yaws in the West-ind'es,
III was thought to be a disorder that would
have it's course, and, If Interrupted. thai
HI would be dangerous. II was then the
custom, when negre was attacked with
#. to seperate him from the rest and
,erd him to some lonely place By the
sea side, to bathe or Into the mountains,
I'll, Some Proyision-Grouud, or Plaataln
yak 8. where he could act as watch
man. and mainfain himself, without any
|expence to the state, until ne was we'll
then he was brought back to the sugar
work.
But this rarely happened. a cold
damp. smoky hut, for his habltatlon,
snakes and lizards his companions, crude,
lyiiscid food, anr. bad water, his only sup
mort; and stunned as leper, ne usually
lsunk from the land of the living.
But some of these abandoned exies
lived, in spite Of the common law OF ma,
lture. and survived a general mutation q
their muscles, ligaments, and osteology
became also hideoHsly white in their
lwooIIy hair and slsn; with their limbs
and bodies twisted and turned, by the
force of the distemper. into shocking
yrotesoue figures, resembling woody ex-
Icrescences, or stumps of trees; or old
Egyptian figures. that seem as if they had
been made Of the ends of the human and
of the brutal form; which n
cures are. by some antiquities, taken tor
GODS, and by Others for devils.
Ia theil Punishment, their huts often
became the receptacles ofrobbers and tu-
gitive negroes; and, as they had no pow
er to resist any who chose to take shelter
lin their novels, they had nothing to lose.
and were forsaken b. the world Tiger
would hardly modest them. Their des-
perate guests never did.
The host of the hut, as he grew more
|mjsshapen generally became more subtle,
this we obseryein crooked scropulons per-
IONS as it nature disliked peoples be-
ing both cunning and stroag.
Many of their way ward visitors were
deeply skilled in magic. and what we
call the black art, which they brought
with tbem from Africa; and in return
|gor their. accommodation, they usually
Taught their landlord the mysteries Of
signs, spells aud sorcery; and illuminat-
led him in all The occult science OF
Obi.
These ugly loathsome creatures thus
beca,pe nracIesSof woods and untFeqqent-
ed places and were resoted to secret
h By the wretchet in mind, and by the
nalicioa, for wicked purposes.
Obi. and gambling. are the only ~
stances. / have been able 10 discover. a
aoong the natives Of the uegto islands ~
africa, in which any effort at combining
ideashas ever been demonstrated.
The science of OBJ is very extern
sipe.
OBJ, for the purposes Of bewitching
seople. or consuming them by lingering
illness, is made of grave,dirt, hair, teeth
of sharks, and other creatures, blood,
feathers, egs shells, images OF wax, the
Jeafts o! birds, and some potent roots
- al h.shns nf ,,dlich Enrnnaans