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pital, having fallen into epileptic fits, with which 

 till then he had never been troubled. As the 

 faintings had seized him at the slaughter-house, 

 and the fellow was an African, it was at first sup- 

 posed by his companions, that the sight and smell 

 of the meat had affected him ; for many of the 

 Africans cannot endure animal food of any kind, 

 and most of the Ebres in particular are made ill by 

 eating turtle, even although they can use any other 

 food without injury. However, upon enquiry 

 among his shipmates, it appeared that he had 

 frequently eaten beef without the slightest incon- 

 venience. For my own part, the symptoms of 

 his complaint were such as to make me suspect 

 him of having tasted something poisonous, espe- 

 cially as, just before his first fit, he had been ob- 

 served in the small grove of mangoes near the 

 house ; but I was assured by the negroes, one and 

 all, that nothing could possibly have induced him 

 to eat an herb or fruit from that grove, as it had 

 been used as a burying-ground for " the white 

 people." But although my idea of the poison was 

 scouted, still the mention of the burying-ground 

 suggested another cause for his illness to the 

 negroes, and they had no sort of doubt, that in 

 passing through the burying-ground he had been 

 struck down by the duppy of a white person not 

 long deceased, whom he had formerly offended, 

 and that these repeated fainting-fits were the 

 consequence of that ghostly blow. The negroes 



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