t the piece de
resistance of the day was to be the examination and probable
committal of the Obeah-man of those parts. That worthy, not being
satisfied with the official conduct of our host the warden, had
advised himself to bribe, with certain dollars, a Coolie servant of
his to 'put Obeah upon him'; and had, with that intent, entrusted to
him a charm to be buried at his door, consisting, as usual, of a
bottle containing toad, spider, rusty nails, dirty water, and other
terrible jumbiferous articles. In addition to which attempt on the
life and fortunes of the warden, he was said to have promised the
Coolie forty dollars if he would do the business thoroughly for him.
Now the Coolie well understood what doing the business thoroughly
for an Obeah-man involved; namely, the putting Brinvilliers or other
bush-poison into his food; or at least administering to him sundry
dozes of ground glass, in hopes of producing that 'dysentery of the
country' which proceeds in the West Indies, I am sorry to say, now
and then, from other causes than that of climate. But having an
affection for his master, and a conscience likewise, though he was
but a heathen, he brought the bottle straight to the intended
victim; and the Obeah-man was now in durance vile, awaiting further
examination, and probably on his way to a felon's cell.

A sort of petition, or testimonial, had been sent up to the
Governor, composed apparently by the hapless wizard himself, who
seemed to be no mean penman, and signed by a dozen or more of the
coloured inhabitants: setting forth how he was known by all to be
far too virtuous a personage to dabble in that unlawful practice of
Obeah, of which both he and his friends testified the deepest
abhorrence. But there was the bottle, safe under lock and key; and
as for the testimonial, those who read it said that it was not worth
the paper it was written on. Most probably every one of these poor
follows had either employed the Obeah-man themselves to avert
thieves or evil eye from a particularly fine fruit-tree, by hanging
up thereon a somewhat similar bottle--such as may be seen, and more
than one of them, in any long day's march. It was said again, that
if asked by an Obeah-man to swear to his good character, they could
not well refuse, under penalty of finding some fine morning a white
cock's head--sign of all supernatural plagues--in their garden path,
the beak pointing to thei