Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-02-20
VOUDOOlSM IN HAYTI.
THE BLACK MANS GOD AND HIS
WORSHIP OF A SERPENT.
Politicians Pander to tho Barbarinns.
One Half of the Population Said to BE
Under the MISUNDERSTANDING of the
Superstition and Rites.

Under the Understanding of the
Superstition and Rites.
What is voudooismi
The whole subject of vaudaux, as the word
IL spelled in Hayti, is a delicate and offensive
one TO the people. 1t was forewarred that it
Is considered bad form to introduce the topic
In conversation among the upper classes
asked for an explanation.
because it is true that voudooism and its
occasional concomtant, cannibalism, prevail
everywhere and HaytIans of intelligence and
education are ashamed of il. They do not
like to be thought beyond the pale OF canni-
balistic practices merely because they have
been taught better You will never meet a
mulatto among the woTshipers of the SER
pent, and it is rare that negro possessing
any education sympathizes Many persons
outwardly profess solely from polite mo-
tives The late President Salnave, mulatto,
used to take part in the midnight meetings,
but he was u politician seeking the support Of
the papalol He used TO rdicule voudooisn
privately to his intimates. | know this per
sonally
THE BELIEF AND PRACTICES.
The explanation becomes of interest because
Spencer St. John in his book on Hayti charges
Salnavc with vaudauxism. My informant
was a mulatto VINO possesses an intimate
knowledge of Haytian affairs The alteration
Of serpents is heather religion imported
from the jungles of Africa. Officers of the
First West India regiment of the British
army, who have done long service on the gold
coast, have given TO me q detailed description
Of voudooism as 1t there prevails under the
name of vodun. There is appar.- but lit
tie difference in the disgusting rl0es, except
that the horrible orgy which follows many of
the Haytlan meetings is not met with among
the votaries on the native heath of voudoo-
ism.
The story of VaudauT is too well known to
be recounted in detail here Sufficient to
mention that it is the religion of a considera-
BILE portion Of the savage tribe" Of Africa
In the kingdom of Dahomey hundreds of
thousands of human victims have first and
last been offered up TO the yellow god. In
Ashantee the serpent is possessed of super
natural powers in the minds OF the followers
of Obi There is large yellow snake which
is used as the medium of the mysterious power
OF Vaudaux. Vaudaux is the God on high,
but the all powerful controller of the negro's
universe deigns to employ Intermediates,
and the serpent becomes the black sayage's
Jesus of Nazareth. The priest of Vaudaux is
called papaloi, a corruption of papa roi papa
king He shares his regal honors with a
dusky dame, who Is generally his placed"
wife, as they say in Hayti, which means no
wife ct all in legal or religious sense She
Is known as mamanloi, and that she plays a
highly important part in the midnight con-
clave VIII be seen as this story proceeds.
II you are awake at late hour of the even
ing at Port au Prince, you will hear dull
monotonous sound waited down the heavy
air from the direction of that portion of the
town which hes near the plain Of the Guide
Sac. 1t Is the noise OF tho bamboula. or
Congo drum-weird, uncanny and sugges-
tive. The beats are slow and at regular in
tervals Black men and women dance the
uncouth measures they witnessed in their
childhood, the same as their fathers and
mothers beheld in their childhood in Africa.
To dance the baInboula is one of the few ap-
parent pastimes tho Havtian negro enjoys.
The drum is also an invariable associate of q
vauda'!x meeting Without it the black man
would be bereft Of his closest intimate friend
The papalois call their meetings at night
time, generally at late hour. The place Is
secret to al save the initiated, and as a rule
only the initiated can by any means secure
attendance The mystery is no doubt a
legacy OF the French colonial days, when the
assemblage Of vaudaux circle was a crime,
punishable by death or terrible whippincs.
The vaudauZ rites OF that period were not
attended by some Of the horrible excuses
which mark those Of the present day. Ac-
cording TO st. Merry and other writers canni-
oalism was unknown, and the principal OBJ
lection urged by the French law makers was
the danger OF conspiracies against the whites
being concocted when many slaves were
drawn together uncontrolled by the presence
OF their masters
SACRIFICES OF BLOOD.
In Hayti ct the present time, by q careful
estimate based on the expressed opinions Of
number OF residents Of the island, there are
over one-haf the population directly under
the sway Of the papalois The great majority
OF the believers are of the harmless wing of
the society, who satisfy themselves with
offering TO the serpent white goat or several
OF the white long TITLED cocks which are
cross between the game fowl and the Leg
horn breed. The minority, in cases of, TO
them, extreme importance demand the
sterner sacrifice. In the slang of the papalois
the goat without horns" can only assuage
the indignation or the indifference Of Vau-
dnux The goat without horns" is human
being, child, whose life blood is spilled over
the altar on VIII h the medium Of Vaudaux,
semi-torpid serpent, rests. according to
papalois tenets there is no crime that cannot
DO condoned; no desire which may not be &C
complshed; no earthly happiness which may
not be attained, and no enemy too powerful
70 be crushed if the faithful believer pros-
trates himself before the serpent and anoints
his head with the blood of sacrificed goat
without horns.r
There hive been three presidents of Hayti
who have consented to radical measures
being employed to check the cannibalistio
tendencies of q portion Of the population.
The late President Gefrard, whose family at
present reside in a fine pen" near Kingston,
Jamaica, endeavored to extirpate vaudaux-
Ism Gen. Boisrond-Canal during his short
tnterreguum was an astute opponent Of the
rites Of the serpent, and the late President
salomon likewise in his crafty way evinced
desire TO rid Hayti Of her browning shame.
The Emperor Faustia, or Soulouque, was
member Of the Vaudau1 society, and Gen.
Dominique, who was president in 1S74-5, wss
an active follower He was q born African
and WIS undoubtedly the most ignorant and
savage ruler the Haytians were ever cursed
with. His nephew, Septimus Rameau, whose
murderous deeds have been recounted in the
course Of this correspondence, was popular
during the period Of his infamous occupancy
OF the position Of prime minister under Do
mingue
have been assured in Hayti that the oppo-
sition OF Gefrrard and Boisrord-Canal to the
vaudau1 practices YVES an important element
In creating the opposition which led to their
political downfall. Cor. New York Herald.
Squirrels Fly Into the Church.
The flying squirrels are quite nuisance at