Note 9 — Chapter V

On the African coast the word is Vodun. Burton mentions that the serpents worshipped at Whydah were so respected that formerly to kill one by accident was punished by death. Now a heavy fine is inflicted. Bosman states that the serpent is the chief god in Dahomey, to whom great presents are made. They are harmless; white, yellow, and brown in colour, and the largest was about six feet long, and as thick as a man’s arm. Fergusson, in his introductory essay on “Tree and Serpent Worship in India,” mentions that at a place called Sheik Haredi, in Egypt, serpent-worship still continues, and that the priests sacrifice to them sheep and lambs. On the west coast of Africa, women, when touched by the serpent, are said to become possessed; they are seized with hysteria, and often bereft of reason; they are afterwards considered priestesses. The whole essay of Fergusson is exceedingly interesting.