When any person falls sick, if, at the distance of several months, he recollects having stolen fruit, etc., or having taken it _softly_ as they term it, he immediately supposes _wangka_ has caught him, and to get cured he must go or send to the person whose property he had taken, and make to him whatever recompense he demands.”[42.2] [Sidenote: Charms to protect property in the West Indies.] Superstitions of the same sort have been transported by the negroes to the West Indies, where the name for magic is _obi_ and the magician is called the _obeah_ man. There also, we are told, the stoutest-hearted negroes “tremble at the very sight of the ragged bundle, the bottle or the egg-shells, which are stuck in the thatch or hung over the door of a hut, or upon the branch of a plantain tree, to deter marauders.… When a negro is robbed of a fowl or a hog, he applies directly to the _Obeah_-man or woman; it is then made known among his fellow blacks, that _obi_ is set for the thief; and as soon as the latter hears the dreadful news, his terrified imagination begins to work, no resource is left but in the superior skill of some more eminent _Obeah_-man of the neighbourhood, who may counteract the magical operations of the other; but if no one can be found of higher rank and ability; or if, after gaining such an ally, he should still fancy himself affected, he presently falls into a decline, under the incessant horror of impending calamities. The slightest painful sensation in the head, the bowels, or {43} any other part, any casual loss or hurt, confirms his apprehensions, and he believes himself the devoted victim of an invisible and irresistible agency. Sleep, appetite and cheerfulness forsake him; his strength decays, his disturbed imagination is haunted without respite, his features wear the settled gloom of despondency: dirt, or any other unwholesome substance, becomes his only food, he contracts a morbid habit of body, and gradually sinks into the grave.”[43.1] Superstition has killed him. [Sidenote: Conclusion.] Similar evidence might doubtless be multiplied, but the foregoing cases suffice to shew that among many peoples and in many parts of the world superstitious fear has operated as a powerful motive to deter men from stealing. If that is so, then my second proposition may be regarded as proved, namely, that among certain races and at certain times superstition has strengthened the respect for private property and has thereby contributed to the security of its enjoyment. IV. MARRIAGE {44} [Sidenote: Superstition as a prop of sexual morality.] I pass now to my third proposition, which is, that among certain races and at certain times superstition has strengthened the respect for marriage, and has thereby contributed to a stricter observance of the rules of sexual morality both among the married and the unmarried. That this is true will appear, I think, from the following instances.