The Republican journal., 1902-08-28

| DUTY at funeral IN the street lust back
of the hotel. OF course we were anxious
to get nearer sight and sound of it, but
were advised that it would be extreme
ly unsafe for foreign white trash" to
venture into the immediate neighbor-
hood. However, having secured con-
cealed point of vantage on the hotel
roof, we obtained glimpses of strange
ceremonials, and by sitting up until
nearly morning had a plain view of the
procession as it moved to the place of
burial, amid lighted torches and the
wild music of flies and tom-toms. AS
organs are the accepted Instruments of
worship inChriStian churches, and harps
are supposed to serve the angels choirs,
so the dull, thump, thump of tom-toms
is believed to please the serpent deity.
| Heard a mile away it is a soothing and
not unpleasant sound; but close at hand
It's monotonous din is simply madden
| ing. Anybody can make a first-class
tom-tom by stretching the dried skin of
a goat, OF pig, over the top of a lard keg,
, OF mackeIel-tub, or a tin oil-can with
the top off; and to play it requires tire
less muscle rather than musical educa-
ton. Ostensibly the Haitians are al
Roman Catholics: but nine times out
OF ten when person dies the relatives
inst call LII a priest, who comes to the
house, performs the ceremony of his
church and goes away; and then comes
i'apa-lol, the serpent-prlest, whose miu-
iStrations are considered much more
important and command double the pay
of the. Christian priest Afterwards a
sort OF wake is held. the corpse having
been placed III the center of a room
| and the friends, bowling. singing. eat
ing. drinking and dancing around it
and all the time the tom-t toms are doing
their worst. The dancing consists most
ly in posturing and comforting, varied
by occasional individual iigs and break
downs. The burial always takes place
after midnight-the coffin carried in the
rear of the procession. tied sitting i'll
chair and borne on the shoulders of
men III the midst OF the bowling throng
W hat takes place at the grave no white
man knows, except that the racket is
redoubed and the dancing is fast and
furious. The noise is made to attract
the attention Of the serpent-god and
also to brighten away any evil spirits
that may be proving around to get
possession of the departed soul.
Snake worship, known i'll the English
the oldest foIm OF religion, older even
than sun-worship, and is doubtless the
same to which Moses alluded when he
erected the serpent III the Wilderness
SO thoroughly grounded is it i'll the
African character that though the in
terror of Haiti may he called its head
quarters i'll America. it crops out in one
form or another wherever ignorant
blacks are congTegated, whether in
New Orleans, New York OF Washing
ton-the priests of oh, who are here
called papa-loiS, being "Noudoo doe
tors" IN the nited States During
my own residence in Washington have
had several negro servants who We're
afraid to venture abroad after dark for
fear OF might DOCTORS" who are be
Iieved to kill and eat anybody they
catch, and nothing would induce them
to enter 4 drug store where these EN-
bodied spirits OF evil have their head
quarters.
For more than three centuries ser
pent-woIship has been rampant in
Haiti since the first Importation
of slaves from -Atrica-and its practice
is today mingled with the widest super
stitions and the celebration of Fetish
rites to propltlate evil spirits of which
murder and cannibalism are natural
outgrowths. While all Noudoo follow
ers are not cannibalS, it is undoubtedly
true that at certain festivals in this
Twentieth century, there are devoteeS
who Kill and eat their own or other
peoples children. In the rural districts
of Jacmai. GOnaiva, and other villages
only a short distance from Port au
Prince, where the mass of ignorant
blacks are congregated the influence Of
Noudoo priests is paramount, and is so
feared by the government that their
horrible practices are not interfered
with, During the French occupation,
which was lIaiti's Golden Age, snake
| worship was suppressed to a great ex-
tent but at the subsequent massacres,
and after the determination of the
whites, it revived in all its original
hideousneSs. The Noudo diety is rep
resented by high-priest, known as
Papa-loi, (''loi being probably a negro
corruption of the French word roi y, and
priestess, Mama-loi, or Father king
and Mother-king. Their commands are
absolute and no sectare dares disobey
them. Therein lies the greatest
danger for it is well-known that
some of Haiti's rulers have been
dominated by the Voudoo priests. The
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