THE LAST OF THE

VOUDOOS
by Lafcadio Hearn
from An American miscellany, vol. II, (1924)originally
published in Harper's weekly, November 7th, 1!
In the death of "ean #ontanet, at the age of nearly a
hundred years, Ne$ %rleans lost, at the end of &ugust,
the most e'traordinary &fri(an (hara(ter that ever
gained (elebrity $ithin her limits. "ean #ontanet, or
"ean )a *i(elle, or "ean )atani+, or "ean ,a(ine, or "ean
-risgris, or "ean #a(a.ue, or "ean /ayou, or 01oudoo
"ohn,0 or 0/ayou "ohn,0 or 02o(tor "ohn0 might $ell have
been termed 03he )ast of the 1oudoos04 not that the
strange asso(iation $ith $hi(h he $as a5liated has
(eased to e'ist $ith his death, but that he $as the last
really important 6gure of a long line of $i7ards or
$it(hes $hose &fri(an titles $ere re(ogni7ed, and $ho
e'er(ised an in8uen(e over the (olored population.
9$arthy o((ultists $ill doubtless (ontinue to ele(t their
0.ueens0 and high:priests through years to (ome, but
the in8uen(e of the publi( s(hool is gradually
dissipating all faith in $it(h(raft, and no bla(;
hierophant no$ remains (apable of manifesting su(h
mysti( ;no$ledge or of inspiring su(h respe(t as
1oudoo "ohn e'hibited and (ompelled. 3here $ill never
be another 0,ose,0 another 0#arie,0 mu(h less another
"ean /ayou.
It may reasonably be doubted $hether any other negro
of &fri(an birth $ho lived in the 9outh had a more
e'traordinary (areer than that of "ean #ontanet. <e
$as a native of 9enegal, and (laimed to have been a
prin(e=s son, in proof of $hi(h he $as $ont to (all
attention to a number of parallel s(ars on his (hee;,
e'tending in (urves from the edge of either temple to
the (orner of the lips. 3his fa(t seems to me partly
(on6rmatory of his statement, as /erenger:*eraud
d$ells at some length on the fa(t that the /ambaras,
$ho are probably the 6nest negro ra(e in 9enegal, all
$ear su(h dis6gurations. 3he s(ars are made by
gashing the (hee;s during infan(y, and are (onsidered
a sign of ra(e. 3hree parallel s(ars mar; the freemen of
the tribe4 four distinguish their (aptives or slaves. No$
"ean=s fa(e had, I am told, three s(ars, $hi(h $ould
prove him a free:born /ambara, or at least a member
of some free tribe allied to the /ambaras, and living
upon their territory. &t all events, "ean possessed
physi(al (hara(teristi(s ans$ering to those by $hi(h
the *ren(h ethnologists in 9enegal distinguish the
/ambaras. <e $as of middle height, very strongly built,
$ith broad shoulders, $ell:developed mus(les, an in;y
bla(; s;in, retreating forehead, small bright eyes, a
very 8at nose, and a $oolly beard, gray only during the
last fe$ years of his long life. <e had a resonant voi(e
and a very authoritative manner.
&t an early age he $as ;idnapped by 9panish slavers,
$ho sold him at some 9panish port, $hen(e he $as
ultimately shipped to >uba. <is ?est:Indian master
taught him to be an e'(ellent (oo;, ultimately be(ame
atta(hed to him, and made him a present of his
freedom. "ean soon after$ard engaged on some
9panish vessel as ship=s (oo;, and in the e'er(ise of
this (alling voyaged (onsiderably in both hemispheres.
*inally tiring of the sea, he left his ship at Ne$ %rleans,
and began life on shore as a (otton:roller. <is physi(al
strength gave him (onsiderable advantage above his
fello$:bla(;s4 and his employers also dis(overed that
he $ielded some pe(uliar o((ult in8uen(e over the
negroes, $hi(h made him valuable as an overseer or
gang leader. "ean, in short, possessed the mysterious
obi po$er, the e'isten(e of $hi(h has been re(ogni7ed
in most slave:holding (ommunities, and $ith $hi(h
many a ?est:Indian planter has been (ompelled by
for(e of (ir(umstan(es to e@e(t a (ompromise.
&((ordingly "ean $as permitted many liberties $hi(h
other bla(;s, although free, $ould never have
presumed to ta;e. 9oon it be(ame rumored that he $as
a seer of no small po$ers, and that he (ould tell the
future by the mar;s upon bales of (otton. I have never
been able to learn the details of this .ueer method of
telling fortunes4 but "ean be(ame so su((essful in the
e'er(ise of it that thousands of (olored people 8o(;ed
to him for predi(tions and (ounsel, and even $hite
people, moved by (uriosity or by doubt, paid him to
prophesy for them. *inally he be(ame $ealthy enough
to abandon the levee and pur(hase a large tra(t of
property on the /ayou ,oad, $here he built a house.
<is land e'tended from Arieur 9treet on the /ayou ,oad
as far as ,oman, (overing the greater portion of an
e'tensive s.uare, no$ $ell built up. In those days it
$as a marshy green plain, $ith a fe$ s(attered
habitations.
&t his ne$ home "ean (ontinued the pra(ti(e of fortune:
telling, but (ombined it $ith the profession of (reole
medi(ine, and of arts still more mysterious. /y:and:by
his reputation be(ame so great that he $as able to
demand and obtain immense fees. Aeople of both ra(es
and both se'es thronged to see him::many (oming
even from far:a$ay (reole to$ns in the parishes, and
$ell:dressed $omen, (losely veiled, often ;no(;ed at
his door. Aarties paid from ten to t$enty dollars for
advi(e, for herb medi(ines, for re(ipes to ma;e the hair
gro$, for (ataplasms supposed to possess mysterious
virtues, but really made $ith s(raps of shoe:leather
triturated into paste, for advi(e $hat ti(;et to buy in
the <avana )ottery, for aid to re(over stolen goods, for
love po$ers, for (ounsel in family troubles, for (harms
by $hi(h to obtain revenge upon an enemy. %n(e "ean
re(eived a fee of 6fty dollars for a potion. 0It $as
$ater,0 he said to a (reole (on6dant, 0$ith some
(ommon herbs boiled in it. I hurt nobody4 but if fol;s
$ant to give me 6fty dollars, I ta;e the 6fty dollars
every timeB0 <is o5(e furniture (onsisted of a table, a
(hair, a pi(ture of the 1irgin #ary, an elephant=s tus;,
some shells $hi(h he said $ere &fri(an shells and
enabled him to read the future, and a pa(; of (ards in
ea(h of $hi(h a small hole had been burned. &bout his
person he al$ays (arried t$o small bones $rapped
around $ith a bla(; string, $hi(h bones he really
appeared to revere as feti(hes. ?a' (andles $ere
burned during his performan(es4 and as he bought a
$hole bo' of them every fe$ days during 08ush times,0
one (an imagine ho$ large the number of his (lients
must have been. 3hey poured money into his hands so
generously that he be(ame $orth at least C!D,DDDB
3hen, indeed, did this possible son of a /ambara prin(e
begin to live more grandly than any bla(; potentate of
9enegal. <e had his (arriage and pair, $orthy of a
planter, and his blooded saddle:horse, $hi(h he rode
$ell, attired in a gaudy 9panish (ostume, and seated
upon an elaborately de(orated #e'i(an saddle. &t
home, $here he ate and dran; only the best::s(orning
(laret $orth less than a dollar the litre::he (ontinued to
6nd his simple furniture good enough for him4 but he
had at least 6fteen $ives::a harem $orthy of /ouba;ar:
9egou. ?hite fol;s might have (alled them by a less
honori6( name, but "ean de(lared them his legitimate
spouses a((ording to &fri(an ritual. %ne of the (urious
features in modern slavery $as the o$nership of bla(;s
by freedmen of their o$n (olor, and these negro slave:
holders $ere usually savage and mer(iless masters.
"ean $as not4 but it $as by right of slave pur(hase that
he obtained most of his $ives, $ho bore him (hildren in
great multitude. *inally he managed to $oo and $in a
$hite $oman of the lo$est (lass, $ho might have been,
after a fashion, the 9ultana:1alid+ of this 9eraglio. %n
grand o((asions "ean used to distribute largess among
the (olored population of his neighborhood in the shape
of food::bo$ls of gombo or dishes of jimbalaya. <e did
it for popularity=s sa;e in those days, perhaps4 but in
after:years, during the great epidemi(s, he did it for
(harity, even $hen so mu(h redu(ed in (ir(umstan(es
that he $as himself obliged to (oo; the food to be
given a$ay.
/ut "ean=s greatness did not fail to entail (ertain (ares.
<e did not ;no$ $hat to do $ith his money. <e had no
faith in ban;s, and had seen too mu(h of the dar;er
side of life to have mu(h faith in human nature. *or
many years he ;ept his money under:ground, burying
or ta;ing it up at night only, o((asionally (on(ealing
large sums so $ell that he (ould never 6nd them again
himself4 and no$, after many years, people still believe
there are treasures entombed some$here in the
neighborhood of Arieur 9treet and /ayou ,oad. &ll
business negotiations of a serious (hara(ter (aused
him mu(h $orry, and as he found many $illing to ta;e
advantage of his ignoran(e, he probably felt small
remorse for (ertain .uestionable a(tions of his o$n. <e
$as notoriously bad pay, and part of his property $as
sei7ed at last to (over a debt. 3hen, in an evil hour, he
as;ed a man $ithout s(ruples to tea(h him ho$ to
$rite, believing that 6nan(ial misfortunes $ere mostly
due to ignoran(e of the alphabet. &fter he had learned
to $rite his name, he $as inno(ent enough one day to
pla(e his signature by re.uest at the bottom of a blan;
sheet of paper, and, loB his real estate passed from his
possession in some horribly mysterious $ay. 9till he
had some money left, and made heroi( e@orts to
retrieve his fortunes. <e bought other property, and he
invested desperately in lottery ti(;ets. 3he lottery (ra7e
6nally (ame upon him, and had far more to do $ith his
ultimate ruin than his losses in the gro(ery, the
shoema;er=s shop, and other establishments into $hi(h
he had put several thousand dollars as the silent
partner of people $ho (heated him. <e might (ertainly
have (ontinued to ma;e a good living, sin(e people still
sent for him to (ure them $ith his herbs, or $ent to see
him to have their fortunes told4 but all his earnings
$ere $asted in tempting fortune. &fter a s(ore of
sei7ures and a long su((ession of evi(tions, he $as at
last obliged to see; hospitality from some of his
numerous (hildren4 and of all he had on(e o$ned
nothing remained to him but his &fri(an shells, his
elephant=s tus;, and the se$ing:ma(hine table that had
served him to tell fortunes and to burn $a' (andles
upon. Even these, I thin;, $ere atta(hed a day or t$o
before his death, $hi(h o((urred at the house of his
daughter by the $hite $ife, an intelligent mulatto $ith
many (hildren of her o$n.
"ean=s ideas of religion $ere primitive in the e'treme.
3he (onversion of the (hief tribes of 9enegal to Islam
o((urred in re(ent years, and it is probable that at the
time he $as (aptured by slavers his people $ere still in
a (ondition little above gross feti(hism. If during his
years of servitude in a >atholi( (olony he had imbibed
some notions of ,omish >hristianity, it is (ertain at
least that the >hristian ideas $ere al$ays subordinated
to the &fri(an::Fust as the image of the 1irgin #ary $as
used by him merely as an au'iliary feti(h in his
$it(h(raft, and $as (onsidered as possessing mu(h less
po$er than the 0elephant=s toof.0 <e $as in many
respe(ts a humbug4 but he may have sin(erely believed
in the e5(a(y of (ertain superstitious rites of his o$n.
<e stated that he had a #aster $hom he $as bound to
obey4 that he (ould read the $ill of this #aster in the
t$in;ling of the stars4 and often of (lear nights the
neighbors used to $at(h him standing alone at some
street (orner staring at the $el;in, pulling his $oolly
beard, and tal;ing in an un;no$n language to some
imaginary being. ?henever "ean indulged in this frea;,
people ;ne$ that he needed money badly, and $ould
probably try to borro$ a dollar or t$o from some one in
the vi(inity ne't day.
3estimony to his remar;able s;ill in the use of herbs
(ould be gathered from nearly every one no$ living
$ho be(ame $ell a(.uainted $ith him. 2uring the
epidemi( of 17, $hi(h uprooted the old belief in the
total immunity of negroes and (olored people from
yello$ fever, t$o of "ean=s (hildren $ere 0ta;en do$n.0
0I have no money,0 he said, 0but I (an (ure my
(hildren,0 $hi(h he pro(eeded to do $ith the aid of
some $eeds plu(;ed from the edge of the Arieur 9treet
gutters. %ne of the herbs, I am told, $as $hat our
(reoles (all the 0parasol.0 03he (hildren $ere playing on
the banquette ne't day,0 said my informant.
#ontanet, even in the most unlu(;y part of his (areer,
retained the superstitious reveren(e of (olored people
in all parts of the (ity. ?hen he made his appearan(e
even on the &meri(an side of >anal 9treet to do(tor
some si(; person, there $as al$ays mu(h subdued
e'(itement among the (olored fol;s, $ho $hispered
and stared a great deal, but $ere (areful not to raise
their voi(es $hen they said, 02ar=s <oodoo "ohnB0 3hat
an unlettered &fri(an slave should have been able to
a(hieve $hat "ean /ayou a(hieved in a (ivili7ed (ity,
and to earn the $ealth and the reputation that he
enFoyed during many years of his life, might be (ited as
a singular eviden(e of modern popular (redulity, but it
is also proof that "ean $as not an ordinary man in point
of natural intelligen(e.
(End.)