Robert Reece

“ I.
In the halls of Derg there is quiet and gloom—
The old lord lies dead in the great Blue Room.
II.
The servants are whispering under their breath,
And they hurry to pass by the chamber of death ”

“ These 'mediums' are called 'Obeah-men' and their functions are not confined, by any means, to the merciful interference between the demon and his victim to which I have just alluded. These idle dreamers are not unfrequently employed by revengeful negroes to 'bewitch' some enemy; and, such is the superstitious dread of, and belief in, the communicated power of the Obeah priest, that the person bewitched wastes away and dies, as I have often seen, sometimes from credulous fear, and sometimes from secret poisoning. ”

“ The juggling Obeah-prophet is nothing without his professional apparatus, and whenever his aid, propitiatory or offensive, is invoked, he is careful to present himself in as strikingly hideous an exterior as can be produced by paint, feathers, and grease in various combinations. ”