Source: French National Archives, Section Outre-mer, notary Gaudin, Nippes, register 738.
Translator's Note: Dompète or Dom Pedro was a new form of vodun or Voodoo that had been identified in the 1760s in Saint-Domingue's southern peninsula, not far from where this affidavit was filed. Strongly identified with Congo slaves, the largest African ethnic group on the southern peninsula, the Petro rite was associated with a formidable array of supernatural powers. In 1814 Drouin de Bercy identified the Petro cult as "the most dangerous of all the black societies ... its members are thieves, liars, and hypocrites and they offer evil advice that destroys livestock and poultry. It is they who distribute that slow and subtle poison that kills whites and other blacks who have displeased them." In a book published in 1806 the naturalist Michel Descourtilz reported that "Dompète, it is said, has the power to uncover with his eyes, in spite of any material obstacle all that happens, at no matter what distance .... The members of this sect have access to magic to inflict their vengeance."
December 31 1781, seven o'clock in the morning; before notary Guadin there appeared:
...the so-called Francois Picau [crossed out: "free griffe"; added in the margin: "honorary cavalier in the constabulary brigade of the town of Ance a Veau, for the purpose of acquiring his liberty free of charge, according to the regulations of this colony"] & overseer on the plantation of the lady widow de Raymond and de Saint Germain; and Joseph, called Aubert, free mulatto, living at the Barradaires
Who said to us, that because of the troubles the so-called Sim called Dompète, nègre, native of the Cayes du fond region, had caused by his presence in the vicinity of the above mentioned Barradaires in this Nippes district, at Preandes, because of the results of poison, that Sieur Frottin, former sergeant of the constabulary, residing in the said Barradaires near the Salt River, had gone with several free people of color, at the urging of several residents of the said place, to find and pursue the said nègre Sim, called Dompète, to try to capture him or destroy him, which they were not able to do. That the said comparants [persons appearing in court], in view of the importance for public welfare and for the security of the citizenry, in order to destroy this nègre Sim called Dompète, if possible, having been given several clues, voluntarily set out for the woods of the Great Wilderness, between the Barradaires and Jeremie [crossed out "yesterday"] last Saturday, 29th of this month, about seven o'clock in the evening, under a full moon. They walked the rest of the night, the first armed with a pair of pistols "Darecon" and a machette [manchette]; the other with his musket and a sword. At daylight, finding themselves near the plantation that formerly belonged to one Roux, [now] abandoned they spent the day there, hidden in the woods near the highway hoping to meet and see pass the said nègre Sim called Dompète; who they had been told the night before could take no other road to go to the place called Lamachotière in the Jeremie region. The day passed without seeing anything; as night fell, both of them constantly in the highway, where they walked not far from one another in order to be able to help each other in case of some meeting and to more easily capture the subject they were after.
That around eleven o'clock in the evening, thanks to a magnificent full moon, the said Francois Picau, one of the comparants, saw someone dressed in white before him, coming towards him. Soon, at his side, he recognized this to be an unknown nègre, carrying a sword under his arm and a white hat on his left side, with a macoute bag hung from his shoulder, to him he said Is it you [vous] is it you [vous] is it you [toi] Sim. Immediately, without any response, having stepped back two or three steps, putting his hand on the sword with which he was armed [he] began to defend himself against him. Having seen this the said Picau and the said Aubert who was behind him, hand no further doubt that they were contending and fighting with the negre Sim, called Dompete. The said Picau defended himself with his manchette, with which he had expressly armed himself; after several blows from one and the other with these weapons [armes blanches] without doing either one the slightest harm. Repeated to the nègre Is this you [toi] again who is Sim: believe me, give yourself up or I will have your head if you don't have mine. That despite all his words he did not stop fighting without offering a single word. The said Picau, seeing that the fighting was leading into the woods, despite himself, suspecting that his enemy had firearms in his macoute because of the efforts he was making while fighting to put his left hand in his macoute. He said to his comrade Aubert; My friend, since because of the position of this place you can not use you sword to help me defeat this courageous nègre Sim who prefers death to life, fire your musket at him in his body if possible. Aubert having immediately tried to do this, his musket misfired, the primer [amorce] only burning. This determined the said Picau to fire one of his pistols, hung at his waist, loaded each with two balls, at the said nègre Sim; that this pistol shot, that he thought hit him in the body, instead of weakening him, only gave him more courage and powers dangers for them, reminding this negre of the efforts he had to make to take from his macoute the firearms that it might contain; still without saying a single word. This gave Picau the idea to fire his other pistol shot at him, which, hitting him and soon weakening not the courage but the strength of the said Sim, who shortly thereafter fell stone dead to the ground because of the great amount of blood he had lost from the two pistol shots he had taken. Which was the compensation [crossed out "the success"] of a brave battle which lasted at least three hours, in which success belonged to the comparants. That afterwards they cut the head from the trunk of [crossed out "the dead enemy"] their dead enemy to take it, with his sword and his macoute to show the lot to M. the Acting Royal Attorney of the Royal Court at Petit Goave for this district to make a deposit and an affidavit as is the law.
...
Contents of the said macoute