Feliciana sentinel., 1892-07-16
y,pEOelsN IN JAMAICA.
Ur. Jossu cad Mr.. Hyde In Zeal
Lilo.
rhe Strange Sso-y of John NuGent. Atlas
Rock salt, the High Priest NJ obea-
hisrnaTi,c MpuntniaDen Of q Y
tho Vile luapostOr. t
Especial Panama &C. A. Le,,er.l

Attention has been recently forcibly
directed to the question of Obeahisn in
the West Indies. by the tragic, and in
some particulars mysterious, death in
the island of Jamaica of one John
Nugcnt, alias Rock salt" The cir
.umstanccs of this death. although
doubtless natural enough, were SO sin.
guiar as TO have powerfully excited the
highly imaginative and ranlly super
s;itious natures of The negro population.
Rock Salt, whose portrait IS here given,
was well known to u limited circle OF
the lowest strata of tho people as Il high
priest of Obi lie was singular char
actcr. Seldom seen in public. he was
almost as unknown to the world of
jamaica as though he had no existence.
He was supposed to reside in hut sit
uatcd in deep and dark dcfilc of the
Port Royal mountains, some distance
from Kingston. Thither the dcvout
seeker after deviltry would resort at
night. and place n written statement OF
his or her desires in cleft sticks under
preserved meat pans-prcparcd for the
purposc-in the front yard. Communi-
cation thus established, if the dreaded
Rock salt pleased to undertake the case
the applicant would sooner or later be
communicated with, an invitation to
meet the "obeah man" Mt his lonely
cabin being mysteriously conveyed to
the applicant. Salt would surely be on
time, dec,.ed on. in the magic trappinSs
and staff of his snakc-p priesthood, as
finely brought forth in tho picturc-and
woe be to the craven or jester who failed
to keep that uncanuy tryst! ! may
mention that it was by well planned
trick thatI succeeded in getting a snap
e1,,,, GolH nd fVGSScSsnl
self of the negative from which the
fancy picture was made ont of which
the accompanying portrait has been
cut. Woe has not yet found me out.
however, and Salt has lifted the veil
and gone to give an account of a career
in comparison with which that of Deem
ing, whereat the world is to-day aghast,
might be regarded as mildly immoral!
So much for the Mr.. Hyde of this re-
markable drama of real life amongst
the negroes. Now for DIR. .Ickyll.
John Nugcnt was to a certain extent
respectable citizen, if he was sport.
and known to local fame as n plungcr
at race meetings. AS such nc was also
known to kindred spirits at the Earba-
does, Trinidad and Dcmcrara race meet
ings. Nueent always had means. al
though not a worker; but if anyon. did
at times speculate as 70 the source OF
his fund. the inquiry never went further
than that stage, for beyond his sporting
proclivitics the man had never attract
ed the attention of the lyux-eyed
myrrnidons of tho law. Certainly no
living mortal suspected the existence of
any connection between the festive
plungcr and the almost unknown high
priest Of Obi least of all that they were
identical That such was the case.
however. the terrible tragedy Of last
Good Friday leaves no room to doubt.
The whole affair has been so careful
~ suppressed 10y the highly sensitive
newspapers of the country that it is eS-
| cecdingly difficult to get an accurate
description of what really happened.
| have. however, been to tho pains of in :
tervicw-ing all new arrivals from the
| Isle of Springs. and little by little have
, drawn forth the story until it is now
sufficiently veil rieccd together to he
given to the world. and 4 more remark
able one never did novelist dream into
black and white. OF verify is truth
stranger than fiction.
On Good Friday day that in the
British West indies is univer-
sally observed with deepest devotional