Government of Cape Colony has found it so difficult to overcome the subtle and all-powerful thrall of witchcraft that a Bill has been introduced quite recently in the Legislative Council for the effective suppression of its influence. It is known as "The Witchcraft Suppression Act, 1895," and is truly in the interest not only of good government, but of native progress and enlightenment.1

Still another stronghold of sorcery is among the Negroes of the West Indies, where what is known as obeahism has for many generations exercised a potent sway over the imagination.

The malign power of obeahism.

It is a species of witchcraft by which a malign or blighting spell is supposed to rest upon the victim through the instrumentality of an obeah man or woman. So powerful is the delusion that the person who has been selected seems incapable of resisting the spell, and is either smitten with some secret disease or pines away until death. The obeah thus becomes

some illness or disaster by means of incantations. In vain the unfortunate man begs for death. This is never granted until for many hours, generally for days, he has been subjected to the most inhuman and revolting tortures. From this Europeans have saved the natives, and civilisation can plead that if this alone were the result of its progress it would be more than sufficient for its 1justification.”—Ibid., PP. 12, 13.

1 The following is the full text of the Bill:

"Be it enacted by the Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly thereof, as follows: "1. Whoever imputes to any other person the use of non-natural means in causing any disease in any person or animal, or in causing any injury to any person or property, that is to say, whoever names or indicates any other person as being a wizard or witch (in the Kaffir language Umtakati), shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds sterling, or in default of payment to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for a period not exceeding fourteen days, unless such fine be sooner paid.

"2. Whoever, having so named or indicated any person as wizard or witch as aforesaid, shall be proved at his trial under the last preceding section to be by habit and repute a witch-doctor or witch-finder (in the Kaffir language Isanusi) shall be liable, on conviction, in lieu of the punishment provided by the last preceding section, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, or to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for any term not exceeding two years, or to corporal punishment not exceeding thirty-six lashes, or to any two or more of such punishments.

'3. Whoever employs or solicits any such witch-doctor or witch-finder as aforesaid, so to name or indicate any person as wizard or witch as aforesaid, shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding five pounds, and in default of payment to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for any term not exceeding two months, unless such fine be sooner paid.

4. Whoever professes a knowledge of so-called witchcraft or of the use of charms, either as a witch-doctor or witch-finder, and shall advise or undertake to

a secret agency for working injury and blighting the life of its victim. In his volume entitled "Cruising Among the Caribbees," Dr. C. A. Stoddard has devoted an interesting chapter to this subject.1 Obeahism has been very prevalent in Jamaica and in other West Indian islands.? So serious, moreover, were the effects of these superstitious practices that severe laws have been passed against them, the penalty in some instances being death; yet so deeply rooted were they in the credulity of the people that no legislation has been able to prevent the secret resort to this dismal art. In the islands of the Pacific similar delusions have prevailed. This has been notably the case in Hawaii, and even at the present time many natives are under the sway of sorcery. By the instrumentality of a kahuna, or witch, a person is supposed to be able to produce the death of an enemy, and even the advent of the "white doctor" has not been able wholly to deliver the native mind from the power of these impostors, as has been illustrated during the recent visitation of Asiatic cholera.3

Soul-hunting in the
South Seas.

The Rev. William Wyatt Gill, in his "Life in the Southern Isles," reports a curious device known as a "soul-trap," which he discovered among the so-called "sacred men" of Danger Island. By means of this trap the sorcerer was supposed to be able actually to obtain possession of the soul, which when once entangled in its meshes could be hurried off to the shades of the spirit world and served up as a dainty morsel at a mystic feast of spiritual cannibalism. "It

advise any person applying to him how to bewitch or injure any other person or any property, including animals, and any person who shall supply any other person with the pretended means of witchcraft, shall, on conviction, be liable to the punishments provided by section two of this Act.

"5. Whoever, on the advice of a witch-doctor or witch-finder, or in the exercise of any pretended knowledge of witchcraft or of the use of charms, shall use or cause to be put into operation such means or processes as he may have been advised or may believe to be cultivated to injure any other person or any property, including animals, shall be liable, on conviction, to the punishments provided by section two of this Act.

"6. This Act shall take effect in any district of this Colony on and after any date not earlier than the first day of September, 1895, which may be fixed by any Proclamation extending the operation of this Act to such district.

"7. This Act may be cited as 'The Witchcraft Suppression Act, 1895.'”

1 Cf. also" Witchcraft in the Caribbees," in The New York Observer, May 9, 1895.

2 "Jamaica Enslaved and Free," pp. 125-131; Work and Workers in the Mission Field, April, 1896, p. 164.

3 "Asiatic Cholera among Hawaiians," by the Rev. S. E. Bishop, in The Independent, September 26, 1895. Cf. also an article on "Witch-Doctors in Hawaii," published in The New York Tribune, June 21, 1895.

would then be speedily known throughout the island world that so-andso had lost his soul, and great would be the lamentation." The sorcerer must thereupon be propitiated by elaborate offerings, and every effort made to induce him to restore the captured soul. This was often accomplished, but sometimes it was pronounced impossible. The soulless victim would then give himself up to despair and fall a prey to such profound mental distress that he would eventually die.1 In New Guinea and the New Hebrides we have accounts of similar uses of sorcery, or witchcraft, for the same base designs. Their sorcerers would claim the power of life and death, health and sickness, and seem to find little difficulty in exercising it. The black art known as nahak is reported by Dr. Paton to be the cause of most of the bloodshed and terror upon Tanna.2 In "Cannibals Won for Christ," by the Rev. Oscar Michelsen, the author writes concerning Tongoa, of the New Hebrides group: "Every village had its sacred man, who was sometimes a chief. He undertook many functions, sacrificing to the spirits to avert their anger on behalf of sick persons, and practising kaimasi (a kind of witchcraft) to compass the evil or bring about the death of obnoxious individuals " (p. 119).

Even in the more civilized countries of the Orient we find a lively belief in the arts of witchcraft. So impressive have been the evidences of demon possession in China that a distinguished

session among Asiatic

peoples.

missionary, after a residence of forty years in that Belief in demon posempire, has written a large volume upon "Demon Possession and Allied Themes," chiefly based upon what he has observed among the Chinese, and upon information which he has gathered from India, Japan, and other lands.3 The evidence which he brings forward in support of the theory of the actual fact of demon possession in China is sufficiently startling and curious, whatever may be the correct interpretation of it. Unhappily, the victims of supposed possession are often treated with shocking barbarity, cases of which are mentioned by Dr. Christie. At all events, the Chinese are profoundly under the influence of the system known as fung-shui, which, although regarded as a capital crime according to the Sacred Edict, is one of the mightiest forces in the social life of the people.5

1 Gill, "Life in the Southern Isles," pp. 180-183. Cf. Ratzel, "The History of Mankind," vol. i., p. 47.

2 Paton, 66

Autobiography," part i., p. 227.

3 Nevius, "Demon Possession and Allied Themes."

4 Christie, "Ten Years in Manchuria," p. 86.

5 Moule, "New China and Old," p. 231; Martin, "A Cycle of Cathay," p. 41.

The profession of fortune-teller is common, and the constant consultation of these diviners is a favorite expedient of the people. In Japan the belief in demon possession is found among the Ainu.2 In Korea the exorcism of spirits has the dignity of a profession.3 In India, especially in the Native States, a considerable belief in witchcraft still prevails, although throughout the peninsula as a whole severe restraint is put upon all cases. In Siam and Laos the usual resort in the event of sickness is to the spirit-doctor, that through him it may be ascertained whose spirit it is that is causing the trouble. The unfortunate victim of illness is often punished unmercifully to compel him to tell who it is that is the author of his affliction. If in his delirium or excitement some name is mentioned, possibly that of his best friend, the evidence is regarded as sufficient, and the culprit is warned that he must flee for his life. It is unnecessary, however, to give further instances of the melancholy sway of these spiritual delusions and the piercing sorrows that they bring to their superstitious victims.

1 Williams, "The Middle Kingdom," vol. ii., pp. 260 ff.

"No people are more enslaved by fear of the unknown than the Chinese, and none resort more frequently to sortilege to ascertain whether an enterprise will be successful or a proposed remedy avail to cure. This desire actuates all classes, and thousands and myriads of persons take advantage of it to their own profit. The tables of fortune-tellers and the shops of geomancers are met at street corners, and a strong inducement to repair to the temples is to cast lots as to the success of the prayers offered."-Ibid., p. 260.

Cf. also" Sorcery in the Celestial Empire," in The Literary Digest, June 9, 1894. 2 Batchelor," The Ainu of Japan," p. 196.

3 The Korean Repository, December, 1895, p. 484; April, 1896, pp. 163–165. 4 "The Lao people believe in possession by evil spirits, and this leads them to practise many degrading things; for example, if a sick person becomes delirious, his friends believe that he is possessed by the spirit of some one who is still living. The spirit-doctor is called, and attempts to ascertain from the sick one the name of the person whose spirit is troubling him. In order to elicit this from the unconscious and delirious sufferer, he pinches, scratches, or beats the patient, often inflicting great bodily injury. Under such treatment the sick one sometimes pronounces in his delirium the name of some neighbor or friend or enemy. The spirit-doctor has done his work. There seems to be but little care for the recovery of the sick one, but the whole neighborhood begins a series of persecutions against the one whose name was mentioned by the patient. Threatening letters are sent to him, informing him that he is accused of witchcraft and warning him to leave the country. Unless he leaves at once, he is further tormented. His cattle are driven away or maimed or killed, or his orchard is cut down. His house is often torn down and burned, and he and his family are compelled to flee to distant parts, homeless, 'friendless, and penniless, and with a stigma upon them which frequently renders intercourse with others impossible."-Dr. J. W. McKean (P. B. F. M. N.), Chieng Mai, Laos.