The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-03-24
Devastation Where There
Were Once Fine Mansions.
An Interview With King Kanlo-Ihe
Natives are All But Naked.

| tants have become since the war, little
| better than their naked sires In Africa.
| The barbaric mysticisms of voodoo or
| hoOdoo are rife among them, ana clNiii-
zatiOn comes not near.
Jehossa Island lies just off the south
Carolina coast-one of the chain OF
| islands, great and small, which gird the
| state from Cape Romain TO Iybee Roads.
| Before the war il was the home OF many
! opulcnt cotton planters, who lived luxurl-
ously and dispensed an elegant and boun-
| tifui hospitality. One OF these southern
harons whose manor was surrounded 10y
| iIlimitable fields of long staple cotton,
was Governor Aiken. He owned more
| than 1000 slaves, who were loyalty attached
| TO him, few of whom and hundreds OF
| whose children and grandchildren still
| remain on the island
During the war between the states the
| settlements on Jehossa Island were devas-
| tated, says writer in the Washington
| star. The many handsome dwellings were
| burned and now only piles of debris
crumbling columns fragments of stone
| and stucco work mark where these man.
| sions stood, and are grim reminders OF
| former wealth and grandeur
| Not long sincs / visited Jehossa Island
/ for the purpose of ascertaining the truth
| of certain wild stories that | heard OF the
| native Jehossites. l was directed To visit
| the most important parsonage OF the
| island, who was known as "Old King
| Kamo,' the voodoo chief or doctor, who
| was said TO exercise the most powerful
| influence on the negroes.
| Passing the cabin of Il woman, who was
| engaged in spreading on n sprawling bush
some linen she had washed L inquired
| the way to- his abode.
Il kin tell you, sar " she said, wiping
her brown hands on her apron but
L 1.,1.w L.. IL ~
oh de day TO hunt up de charm, dey be
| sarpent skins de rabbit gall an de frog
| eve, an il you will lissen To dis ole gran
| nv, who amt gwine lie when you git TO
the cross road whar he home be, cross
you fus finger on de big toe Of you lef'
gwine CONCUR you ef you don't Massa, L
know you Is stranger, dat is why glib
, you dis revise.
L thanked the ancient cronc, which
! thanks | emphasized 10y tossing her some
loose change, that caused her 10 courtesy
and muttcr blessings on me so long as
could hear her
| After riding some distance my horse
suddenly halted before the door of the
| hut Il one-room cabin of logs, filled in
| with mud and clay. 1t looked moro like
| the haunt of an animal than the home Of
asman. There was not living object
| visible, save lean-looking, half starved
| cat, that sat doing in the sun and an
| attenuated yellow dog that waggcd good
naturedly the fragment of his abbreviated
| tail.
| called out, "Hcllo therer' Instantly
| King Kamo tottered to tho door, leaning
| heavily on stick. No wonder, thought
| i, that he is the terror of his neighbors,
| for chilly sensation seized me as / saw
| the strange object approach. The man
must have been near 100 years old. His
face was large and scanned with dark
folds more like the hide of the rhinoccros
than human skin. patch OF snow
white wool covered his otherwise bare
| skull Eyes leering and jet black looked
! from beneath shaggy, thick eyebrows, and
| as he silently gazed at me felt that my
call had surely aroused the evil worker.
MAY come i'm and see youY' l said,
| dismounting from my horse, mt the same
| time iingling somo loose silver I'm my
| pocket, the sound of which caused a smile
| to play on the rough visage of the aged
| negro.
"To be sure ye kin come in. Come in,
| sar, and l entered.
Truly il was an abode more wiZardly
| than the witches of Macbeth ever dreamed
| Of. A slow fire was burning beneath a
| huge vessel that emitted strange, uoxious
fumes Around the place there were
| skins nailed 20 the logs, punches of rab-
| bits feet, claws OF birds and punches Of
1 ufN WceuS. nt Otu man luTlltt lo the
| boiling caldron, seeming unconscious Of
my presence, and began stirring 1t vigor-
| ously, ms he tore apart what looked to be a
| dried frog. and threw il into the vessel as
| he moaned:
Bile, frog, bile; de stranger I'm de doe
Bile, snake bile, wild dc sarpent an de
crow.
After this poetical incantation he turned
| to me and said: Now. sar, no ebil spell
| gwinc hurt ye! Set down, master" and
| he pulled the old straw -bottomed chair
| toward me. At the same time l handed
| him piece Of tobacco, 10y way of gaining
| his good will.
well, old man." said I, "they tell me
chat you perform wonderful cures, and
that you are doctor Are youy'
| ''By de power oh dc Lord, | is dat, boss.
| One man he come here. He call heself
| preached Oh dc Lord. He say, see here,
| kamo, you better stop dis conjuring, IL is
| the dcbl' 5 work, and say be kin TO Satin.
| Dat same man he go away, and j put my
| spell on him, an from that day he call
| me chile ob sim he nCbbcr walk again
| cast my spell ON his legs. Dey call IL
| rheumatism, but / call IL de spell Of
| Kamc. But when gintleman come an
treat me as YOU do, boss, l stir my pot for
dc luck Co follow ye
Tell me, Kamo," said I. "what is
now stcaiaing away there; potato and
possuinY'
mo, STR" and'a smile made the old
| horny face beam. "poSsum am good,
and tater too but IL got no charm. j
| git mp fore dc sun bo up. | 90 and git
me yarbs koch de rabbit in do full Of
| de moon. i kill dc sarpcnt whcncbcr l
! kin. hab owl, an crow, an jay bird
| DE all hep me to make dc pills an my
| charms; but boss, | am gwine TO tell you
n secret III you eber tell it, look out for
| old Ramos cuss. Here is the charm.
| No man has seen II in many long years
/ When die ~ gwine bc buried wild me. I"
| He put his hand i'm his bosom and drew
from IL n smooth. jet black stone, about
two inches long and one and half inches
| thick. ] went TO take IL from his hand
when an awful shrek, like that of n
| wounded animal, echoed through the
| hovel. At the same time nc grasped II
| tightly. Don't touch dat mister, it
kill you like dc pisen ob dee rattlcsnakc
No man touch dat but Inc lay dead