! 1 TbeHijloryof BookII. 



. W Remedies which our Caribbians are 



wortrtD make ufe of when oecafion requires, have not the fuc- 

 £&k they had promifed to themfelves , their recourfe is to 

 theinEtf^ez,, that is their Magicians, who alfo pretend to the 

 profeffion of Phyfick, and having fent for them, they ask their 

 advice concerning the event of their ficknefs : Thefe unhap- 

 j&yi ihftruraientfs of< Satan have by their enchantments gain'dtb 

 great oreputation among the£ poor befotted people, that they 

 are looked upon as the Judges of lifeand death, afldfo dread- 

 ed by teafonVof their forceries, and the revenge they take on 

 thofe who flight them, that all think themfelves obliged to 

 exprefi a compliance with their advice. 



As concerning the Ceremonies obferved by them upon thefe 

 occafions, we have already given fome account thereof in the 

 Chapter of their Religion : It is requifite above all things, that 

 the Houfe or Hut into which the Boye is- to enter, mould be 

 very neatly prepared for his reception that the little Table, 

 which they call Matonton^ lhould be furnifhed with Anakfi for 

 Maboya^ that is ? an offering oiCajfava and Ouicou 3 for the evil 

 Spirit 5 as alfo with the firft-fruits of their Gardens, if it be the 

 feafon of fruits : It is further requifite, that at one end of the 

 Hut, there lhould be as many low ftools or feats as there are 

 to be perfonsprefentat that deteftable a&ion. 



After thefe preparations, the Boye* who never does this work 

 butin the night time, having carefully put out all the fire in 

 and about the Houfe, enters- into it; and having found out his 

 place by the weak light of a piece of Tobacco fet on fire, 

 which he hath in his hand, he firft pronounces fome barbarous 

 wordsj then he (hikes the ground feveral times with his left 

 foot, and having put the end of Tobacco which he had in his 

 hand into his mouth, he blows upwards five or fix times the 

 fmoke which comes out of it, then rubbing the end of Tobac- 

 co between his hands he fcatters it in the air : Thereupon the 

 Devil, whom he hath invocated by thefe apifii Ceremonies, 

 (baking very violently the roof of the houfe, or making lome 

 other dreadful noife prefently appears, and anfwers diftindUy 

 to all the queftions put to him by the Boye. 



If the Devil aflures him, that his difeafe for whom he is 

 confulted, is not mortal, the Boye^ and the Apparition which 

 accompanies him, come neer the fick perfon to allure him that 

 he Shaill Toon recover his former health 5 and to confirm him 

 in that hope, they gently touch thofe parts of his body, where 

 he feels moft pain, and having prels'd them a little, they pre- 

 tend? that there come out of them Thorns, pieces of Bones, 

 (planters of Wood and Stone, which were, as thefe damnable 

 Phyfitians affirm, the caufe of his ficknefs : Sometimes alfo 

 they moiften the part affefted with their breath, and having 

 (uck'd it feveral times, they perfwade the Patient that by that 



means . 



