They have several other charms, all of which they deem infallible. When they fancy they are under the power of Obeah, they procure a snake, kill and skin it; when the skin is thoroughly dried, they bind it round their leg, and feel easier in mind, supposing the one charm will counteract the other. Again, if sent out of an errand, and they loiter about, to prevent any scolding from their employers, they pick a blade of a peculiar species of grass, and place it under their tongue, which they believe has the power of preventing any angry words. This also is done when they wish to escape punishment or detection. I am aware that it is not the negroes alone who are given to superstition—to using charms and observing omens; the Greeks and Romans were famous for this practice; and in my own country, among the lower classes, most of the old women have a cramp-bone in their pockets, to drive away pains; the tip of a tongue, or a stone with a hole in it, for luck; and a horseshoe nailed to the door, to prevent the entrance of witches. Our seamen, too, are strict disciples of superstition, and rear her many an altar. I once heard a captain of a merchantman who trades to Antigua, speaking of this subject, and laughing at the generality of sailors for paying attention to this or that omen. “I don’t believe in anything of the kind,” said he. “What can a dolphin, or a Mother Cary’s chicken, (the stormy petrel,) have to do with a gale of wind? It’s nonsense,—altogether nonsense. Of course, though, it would be only a madman _who would whistle in a storm_ or sail on a Friday, if they could possibly help it!” I wished to ask what poor Friday[16] had done, or if Eolus disliked whistling. All superstitious people, in every part of the world, are prone to believe in the existence of imaginary beings; and while the English have their ghosts, the Scotch their brownies, and the Irish their banshees, the negroes have their jumby.[17] These creatures, like all of their class, love to frequent churchyards, lonely roads, and the margin of ponds. They are represented by the believers in this creed to be very revengeful and malicious; strangling children, knocking down people, frightening old women into fits, and indeed, doing all the mischief they can. I have heard that “Spring Gardens,” the part of the town we reside in, is a favourite spot for their ambulations; but I cannot say I have as yet formed any acquaintance with these _fleshless_ beings. Many are the tales related of their exploits,—tales more terrible than that of the poor ghost in “Hamlet,” whose “lightest word would harrow up the soul.” But as I have too much love for my readers, to wish to “freeze their blood,” and all those other dreadful threats his ghostship promised his hopeful son, I will merely relate a few little incidents about these night-loving people.