392 CUBA AMi I'OKTO 1UCO 



there of a natural propensity for stealing, as expressed in 

 American caricature. So far as mental degradation is 



concerned, 1 have been astonished at the literacy of these 

 people, especially in the British West Indies, where men 

 and women working for a shilling or less a day are able 

 to read and write. Furthermore, there have been excep- 

 tional cases where negroes, outside of Haiti, have risen to 

 positions of learning and influence, like the chief justie. 

 of Barbados, and many blacks in the English civil service. 



Concerning the charge of superstition, it is true that 

 both the blacks and whites of the West Indies are satu- 

 rated with it, but not to the degree that has been alleged. 

 Every book of West Indian travels tells of this subject, 

 picturing the terrible doings of the obi-men, their influ- 

 ence over the ignorant peasants, and the deadly fear 

 they create among the white planters. Some even go so 

 far as to tell of horrible cannibalistic sacrifices and orgies 

 which defy the most vivid imagination to describe. One 

 who reads St. John's book, "Hayti; or, The Black Re- 

 public," will be filled with horror at the tales of cannibal- 

 ism and savagery it recounts, and shudder at the thought 

 of such deeds within gunshot of our own country. Yet it 

 is my calm conclusion, borne out by the testimony of 

 others, that the writer of this book has committed the 

 common mistake of adding to the actual facts of the 

 African obi rites the imaginary French witch-lore known 

 as vaudoux (voodoo). 



In opposition to St. John's charges Mr. Bassett, the 

 Haitian consul-general, wrote : " I have lived in Haiti as 

 United States minister for nine years, and there is just 

 about as much cannibalism there as there is in the city of 

 New Haven." 



A doctor of divinity, a native West Indian, wrote: 

 " From my own knowledge I can testify that the voodoo 

 worship and the snake dance are practised in Haiti, but 

 cannibalism, I am sure, is not a custom of the Haitians." 



Mr. Preston, who for many years was dean of the 



