nvoking of the aid of some god to do what the worshipers wish.
The Vaudoux humbug is quite prevalent in Cuba, Hayti, and other West
India islands, where there are wild negroes, or where they are still
imported from Africa. There is also a good deal of this sort of humbug
among the slaves in New Orleans, and cases arising from it have recently
quite often appeared in the police reports in the newspapers of that
city.

The Vaudoux worshipers assemble secretly, with a kind of chief witch or
mistress of ceremonies; there is a boiling caldron of hell-broth, _a la_
Macbeth; the votaries dance naked around their soup; amulets and charms
are made and distributed. During a quarter of a century last past, some
hundreds of these orgies have been broken up by the New Orleans police,
and probably as many more have come off as per programme. The Vaudoux
processes are most frequently appealed to for the purposes of some
unsuccessful or jealous lover; and the Creole ladies believe in
Vaudouxism as much as in Obi.

In the West Indies, the Vaudoux orgies are more savage than in this
country. It is but a little while since in Hayti, under the energetic
and sensible administration of President Geffrard, eight Vaudoux
worshipers were regularly tried and executed for having murdered a young
girl, the niece of two of them, by way of human sacrifice to the god.
They tied the poor child tight, put her in a box called a humfort, fed
her with some kind of stuff for four days, and then deliberately
strangled her, beheaded her, flayed her, cooked the head with yams, ate
of the soup, and then performed a solemn dance and chant around an altar
with the skull on it.

The Caffres in Southern Africa have a kind of humbug somewhat like the
Obi-men, who are known as rainmakers. These gentlemen furnish what
blessing and cursing may be required for other purposes; but as that
country is liable to tremendous droughts, their best business is to make
rain. This they do by various prayers and ceremonies, of which the most
important part is, receiving a large fee in advance from the customer.
The rain-making business, though very lucrative, is not without its
disadvantages; for whenever Moselekatse, or Dingaan, or any other chief
sets his rainmaker at work, and the rain was not forthcoming as per
application, the indignant ruler caused an assegai or two to be stuck
through the wizard, for the encouragement of the other wizards. This
was not so unreasonable as