THE WESTERN COAST. 
291 
©f sects among the negroes. The chief of these 
sectaries are the believers in two principles, the 
evil and the good, the African and the European ; 
but as the negroes seldom disturb themselves 
about the inconsistency of their opinions, it is im- 
possible to give a clear statement of their doctrines ; 
for they express their sentiments as they occur, 
and generally have the seeds of contradiction lurk- 
ing in their minds. The Africans seem original- 
ly to have represented their deity as black like 
themselves ; but they have been informed by Eu- 
ropeans, that this black deity is the devil of the 
whites, and essentially evil. Where they are con- 
tented with the productions of their soil, and their 
own manner of life, they represent the evil deity 
as white, the protector of white men, and the 
cause of all the evils which the white men have 
brought upon the negroes ; and the good deity, 
the protector of the Africans, as black. But 
where the negroes are discontented, they repre- 
sent the black deity as mischievous and cruel, 
taking pleasure in tormenting them with nume- 
rous evils ; and the God of the whites as benevo- 
lent and kind, bestowing upon them, in abundance, 
fine clothes, silks, and brandy. Artus told them, 
that their deity did not neglect them, who furnish- 
ed them with gold, palm-wine, fruits, cows, goats, 
fowls, and fish ; but he found it impossible to 
convince them that these were derived from the 
