summary of materials relating to the saint-do mingue years to return to an appraisal of the family in the seventeen hundreds , it is undeniably characterized by strength , success , and wealth , by longevity and enduring relationships and the witches of the period must be perceived as extremely successful it can safely be assumed that they controlled lasher completely to their satisfaction however , we honestly do not know whether or not this is true we simply have no evidence to the contrary there are no specific sightings of lasher there is no evidence of tragedy within the family accidents befalling enemies of the family , the family 's continued accumulation of jewels and gold , and the countless stories told by the slaves as to the omnipotence or infallibility of their mistresses constitute the only evidence of supernatural intervention , and none of this is reliable evidence closer observation through trained investigators might have told a very different tale .