Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(W.I.) a ghost or spirit, a duppy.

1837		‘Nights At Sea’ in Bentley’s Misc. June 631: Give way, you bit of ebony [...] or Jumbee ’ull have you stock and fluke.
1854		M. Philip Emmanuel Appadocca II 213: Garamighty! me say, wha jumbee want early, early so.
1896		Morn. Times (DC) 31 May 18/4: Me no go back, boss, jumbie (ghost) too bad!
1906		Times Despatch (Richmond, VA) 18 Nov. 47/2: Jumbies belong to the religion of Obi, and they’m awful flesh-sucking vampires.
1937		E. Mittelholzer Creole Chips 9: Ah gwine praper do fo’ you! Call me a ugly jumbie, eh? Awright!
1954		G. Lamming Emigrants (1980) 69: They won’t leave till they [...] suck yuh blood like a blasted jumbie.
1964		R. Abrahams Humphrey’s Ride 67: I goes out and make circle to keep away jombies.
1966		J. Rhys Wide Sargasso Sea 23: He’d throw her on the fire, he said, if she put bad luck on him. Old white jumby, he called her.
1970		S. Naipaul Fireflies 168: Don’t stand there looking like a jumbie.
1983		R. Abrahams Man-of-Words in the West Indies 179: Jumbies are vexing spirits.