Note 37 — Chapter IV · AUDUBON'S BIRTH, NATIONALITY, AND PARENTAGE

The word "Joue," which occurs eleven times in this document—as "mulatto Joue," "Joue mulatto," "negro bossal named Joue," and "little negro Joue"—suggests the English equivalent "Cheek," but no such usage appears to be authorized. It is evidently a proper name, and is more likely to prove the French rendering of a word common to one of the negro dialects of the island. On the other hand it might represent a corrupted pet name, like "joujou" or "bijou," bestowed by the French Creoles of Santo Domingo upon their favorite négrillons or petits nègres, which played a more or less ornamental rôle in many households, whether as footmen or servants. In any case the use of this word is doubtless purely local.