They are humble parts of the great system which is adorned with
the fables of Osiris and Isis; and they comprise not only the Obi of
Africa, but the witchcraft of our own country. That superstition is
every where connected with the worship of the serpent, and with the moon
and the cat. Skulls and teeth of cats are among the principal
ingredients of the African charms or _Obies_.
[137] Mr. Long gives the following account of the furniture of the house
of an Obi-woman, or African witch in Jamaica: "The whole inside of the
roof, (which was of thatch) and every crevice of the walls were stuck
with the implements of her trade, consisting of rags, feathers, bones of
cats, and a thousand other articles. Examining further, a large earthen
pot or jar, close covered, contained a prodigious quantity of round
balls of earth or clay, of various dimensions, large and small, whitened
on the outside, and variously compounded, some with hair and rags, or
feathers of all sorts, and strongly bound with twine: others blended
with the upper section of the skulls of cats, or set round with cats'
teeth and claws, or with human or dogs' teeth, and some glass beads of
different colours.
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