O B I 
dark. Sir T. Elyot's Gov. —A very ohfufcate and obfcure 
fight. Burton's Anat. of Mel. 
OBFUSCA'TION, J\ The aft of darkening. 
Q'BI , f. A fuperditious pradtice, or a kind of forcery 
or witchcraft, prevalent among the Negroes in Jamaica, 
and which has fo powerful an effedl, as to bias, in aconfi- 
derable degree, their general conduft, difpofitions, and 
manners. Mr. B. Edwards has given a particular.account 
of this pradlice, deduced from the refearches and detail 
of Mr. Long. The term obeah, or obinh, is fuppofed to 
be derived from obe, or obi; and the words obiah man or 
■woman denote thofe who pradlice obi. The etymology 
of this term is traced, by means of Mr. Bryant’s Mytho¬ 
logy, to ob, or otib, which, in the Egyptian language, fig- 
nified a ferpent. Mofes, by divine authority, forbids the 
Ifraelites ever to inquire of the demon Ob, tranflated in 
our Bible charmer, or wizard; and the woman at Endor 
is called Oub or Ob, tranflated Pythonifla; and Oubaios 
was the name of the balililk, or royal ferpent, emblem of 
the fun, and an ancient oracular deity of Africa. This is 
a very curious coincidence; and the term, fuppofed to 
be thus derived, is now generally ufed in Jamaica to de¬ 
note thofe Africans who in that ifland pradtife witchcraft 
or forcery, comprehending alfo the clafs of perfons called 
“ Myal-men,” or thofe who, by means of a narcotic po¬ 
tion, made with the juice of an herb, faid to be a lpecies 
of Solanum, which occafions a trance or profound fleep of 
a certain duration, endeavour to convince the deluded 
fpedlators of their power to reanimate dead bodies. Ac¬ 
cording to the refult of the inquiries of the author now 
cited, the profeflors of Obi are, and always were, natives 
of Africa, and none other; and they have brought the 
fcience with them from thence to Jamaica ; where it is fo 
univerfally pradlifed, that there are few of the large eftates 
pofTefTing native Africans, which have not one or more of 
them. The olded and moll crafty are thofe who ufually 
attradl the greated devotion and confidence: befides the 
advantage derived from their hoary heads, and harfn forbid¬ 
ding afpedl, they poffefs fome fkill in plants of the medicinal 
and poifonous lpecies, which has qualified them for fuc- 
ceeding in their impofition on the weak and credulous. 
The Negroes in general, whether Africans or Creoles, 
revere, confult, and fear, them. To thefe oracles they re¬ 
fort, with the moll implicit faith, on all occafions, for the 
cure of dilorders, the obtaining of revenge for injuries or 
infults, the conciliating of favour, the difcovery and pu- 
nilhment of the thief or the adulterer, and the-predidlion 
of future events. The trade which thefe impoftors carry 
on is extremely lucrative ; they manufacture and fell their 
obies, adapted to different cafes, and at different prices. 
A veil of myfteryis lludioufly thrown over their incanta¬ 
tions, to which they allot the midnight hours. The de¬ 
luded Negroes, who are unfufpedling believers in their 
fupernatural power, become voluntary accomplices in this 
concealment; and the flouted of them tremble at the 
fight of the ragged bundle, the bottle, or the egg-fhells, 
which are fluck in the thatch, or hung over the door of a 
hut, or upon the branch of a plantain-tree, to deter ma¬ 
rauders. In cafes of poifon, the effedls of it are by the 
ignorant Negroes afcribed wholly to the potent workings 
of Obi. When a Negro is robbed of a fowl ora hog, he 
applies immediately to the obiah man or woman ; it is 
then made known among his fellow-blacks, that “ Obi is 
fet” for the thief; and, as foon as the latter hears the 
dreadful news, his terrified imagination induces him to 
feek the only refource that is left in the fuperior fkill of 
fome more eminent obiah-man of the neighbourhood, who 
may counteract the magical operations of the other ; but 
if no fuch perfon can be found, he falls into a decline 
under the inceflant horror of impending calamities. The 
ilighteft painful fenfation in the head, the bowels, or any 
other part, as well as any cafual lofs or hurt, confirms his 
apprehenfions ; and he believes himfelf to be the devoted 
victim of an invifible and irrefiflible agency. Sleep, appe¬ 
tite, and cheerfulnefs, forfake him 5 his ftrength decays ; 
OBJ 363 
his features afTume the fettled gloom of defpondency; the 
mod naufeous and unwholefome fubflance becomes his 
only food; he contrails a morbid habit of body, and gra¬ 
dually finks into the grave. A Negro, who is taken ill, 
inquires of the obiah-man the caufe of his ficknefs, whe¬ 
ther it will prove mortal or not, and how long it will be 
before he either dies or recovers. The oracle generally 
afcribes the diflemper to the malice of fome particular per¬ 
fon, and advifes to fet Obi for him ; but, if no hopes be 
given of recovery, immediate defpair takes place, which 
no medicine can remove, and death is the certain confe- 
quence. As numerous occafions arife which provoke the 
Negroes to exercife the powers of Obi againfl each other, 
a confiderable portion of the annual mortality. amongil 
thofe of Jamaica is afcribed to this fafcinating jnifchief. 
The Obi is ufually compofed of a farrago of materials, 
mod of which are enumerated in the Jamaica law, palled' 
in 1760, with a view to its fuppreflion, viz. blood, fea¬ 
thers, parrots’ beaks, dogs’ teeth, alligators’ teeth, broken 
bottles, grave-dirt, rum, and egg-fhells. For a further 
account of this fuperditious pradlice, fee Edwards’s Hid. 
of the Wed Indies, vol. ii. 
OBI AN', a river of America, which runs into the- 
MidilTippi in lat. 35. 48. N. Ion. 90. 8. W. 
OBIDOS, a town of Portugal, in Edremadura, on a 
river which runs into the Atlantic, and forms a bay at its 
mouth, called Lagoa de Obulos. It is defended by a flrong 
cadle on a rock. Obidos is thirteen miles ead of Peniche, 
and thirty-eight north of Lilbon, Lat. 39.20. N. Ion. 8. 
59. W. 
OB'JECT, J. [ objet, Fr. objeRum, Lat.] That about 
which any power or faculty is employed.—The objeR of 
true faith is, either God himfelf, or the word of God ; 
God who is believed in, and the word of God as the rule 
of faith, or matter to be believed. Hammond. —Truth is 
the objetii of our underdanding, as good is of the will. 
Dryden's Dufrejhoy. 
They are her farthed-reaching indrumenf, 
Yet they no beams unto their objeRs fend ; 
But all the rays are from their objeRs lent, 
And in the eyes with pointed angles end. Davies. 
Something prefented to the fenfes to raife any aftedlion cr 
emotion in the mind.-—This paflenger felt fome degree of 
concern at the fight of fo moving an objeR, and therefore 
withdrew. Atterbury. 
Diflionour not your eye 
By throwing it on any other objecl. Shakejpeare. 
[In grammar.] Any thing-influenced by fomewhat elfe.— 
The accufative after a verb tranlitive, or a fentence in 
room thereof, is called, by grammarians, the objeR of the 
verb. Clarice. 
To OBJECT', v. a. [ objecler, Fr. objicio, objeRum, Lat.] 
To oppofe ; to prefent in oppofition : 
Pallas to their eyes 
The mid objeRed, and condens’d the fkies. Pops. 
To propofe as a charge criminal; or a reafon adverfe ; of¬ 
ten with to or againft. —Men in all deliberations find eafe 
to be of the negative fide, and a fie 61 . a credit to objeR and 
foretel difficulties; for, when propofitions are denied, 
there is an end of them ; but if they be allowed, it re- 
quireth a new work ; which falfe point of wifdorn is the 
bane of bufinefs. Bacon. —It was objected againji a late 
painter, that he drew many graceful pidlures, but few of 
them were like. Dryden. —There was but this fingle fault 
that Erafmus, though an enemy, could objeR to him. 
A tterbury. 
OB'JECT, part. adj. Oppofed; prefented in oppofition. 
—His mercy is fo objeft even unto fenfe. A bp. Sandy's 
Sermons. —Flowers, growing fcattered in divers beds, will 
fhew more fo as that they be objeR to view at once. Bacon. 
OB'JECT-GLASS, f. Glafs of an optical indrument 
remotell from the eye.—An objeR-glafs of a telefcope I- 
once mended, by grinding it on pitch with putty, and 
leaning 
