The Continuation of theSecond ExpeditionfromMahock, Southward, into the Province ofCarolina.
The fifth ofJune, my Company and I parted good friends, they back again, and I with oneSasquesahanough-Indian, namedJackzetavon, only, in pursuit of my first Enterprize, changing my course from West to Southwest & by South, to avoid the Mountains. MajorHarrisat parting gave me a Gun, believing me a lost man, and given up as a prey toIndiansor savage Beasts; which made him the bolder inVirginiato report strange things in his own praise and my disparagement, presuming I would never appear to disprove him. This, I suppose, and no other, was the cause that he did with so much industry procure me discredit and odium; but I have lost nothing by it, but what I never studied to gain, which is Popular applause.
From the fifth, which wasSunday, until the ninth ofJune, I travelled through difficult Ways, without seeing any Town orIndian; and then I arrived atSapon, a Village of theNahyssans, about an hundred miles distant fromMahock, scituate upon a branch ofShawan, aliàsRorenock-River; and though I had just cause to fear theseIndians, because they had been in continual Hostility with theChristiansforten years before; yet presuming that the Truck which I carried with me would procure my welcome, I adventured to put my self into their power, having heard that they never offer any injury to a few persons from whom they apprehend no danger: nevertheless, they examined me strictly whence I came, whither I went, and what my business was. But after I had bestowed some trifles of Glass and Metal amongst them, they were satisfied with reasonable answers, and I received with all imaginable demonstrations of kindness, as offering of Sacrifice, a complement shewed only to such as they design particularly to honour: but they went further, and consulted their Godds whether they should not admit me into their Nation and Councils, and oblige me to stay amongst them by a Marriage with the Kings or some of their great Mens Daughters. But I, though with much a-do, waved their courtesie, and got my Pastport, having given my word to return to them within six months.
Saponis within the limits of the Province ofCarolina, and as you may perceive by the Figure, has all the attributes requisite to a pleasant and advantagious Seat; for though it stands high, and upon a dry land, it enjoyes the benefit of a stately River, and a rich Soyl, capable of producing many Commodities, which may hereafter render the Trade of it considerable.
Not far distant from hence, as I understood from theNahyssanIndians, is their Kings Residence, calledPintahæ, upon the same River, and happy in the same advantages both for pleasure and profit: which my curiosity would have led me to see, were I not bound, both by Oath and Commission, to a direct pursuance of my intended purpose of discovering a passage to the further side of the Mountains.
This Nation is governed by an absolute Monarch; the People of a high stature, warlike and rich. I saw great storeof Pearl unbored in their little Temples, or Oratories, which they had won amongst other spoyls from the Indians ofFlorida, and hold in as great esteem as we do.
From hence, by the Indians instructions, I directed my course toAkenatzy, an Island bearing South & by West, and about fifty miles distant, upon a branch of the same River, fromSapon. The Countrey here, though high, is level, and for the most part a rich soyl, as I judged by the growth of the Trees; yet where it is inhabited by Indians, it lies open in spacious Plains, and is blessed with a very healthful Air, as appears by the age and vigour of the people; and though I travelled in the month ofJune, the heat of the weather hindred me not from Riding at all hours without any great annoyance from the Sun. By easie journeys I landed atAkenatzyupon the twelfth ofJune. The current of the River is here so strong, that my Horse had much difficulty to resist it; and I expected every step to be carried away with the stream.
This Island, though small, maintains many inhabitants, who are fix’d here in great security, being naturally fortified with Fastnesses of Mountains, and Water of every side. Upon the North-shore they yearly reap great crops of Corn, of which they always have a twelve-months Provision afore-hand, against an Invasion from their powerful Neighbours. Their Government is under two Kings, one presiding in Arms, the other in Hunting and Husbandry. They hold all things, except their Wives, in common; and their custome in eating is, that every man in his turn feasts all the rest; and he that makes the entertainment, is seated betwixt the two Kings; where having highly commended his own chear, they carve and distribute it amongst the guests.
At my arrival here, I met four stranger-Indians, whose Bodies were painted in various colours with figures of Animals whose likeness I had never seen: and by some discourse and signes which passed between us, I gathered that they were the only survivours of fifty, who set out togetherin company from some great Island, as I conjecture, to the Northwest; for I understood that they crossed a great Water, in which most of their party perished by tempest, the rest dying in the Marishes and Mountains by famine and hard weather, after a two-months travel by Land and Water in quest of this Island ofAkenatzy.
The most reasonable conjecture that I can frame out of this Relation, is, that these Indians might come from the Island of newAlbionorCalifornia, from whence we may imagine some great arm of the Indian Ocean or Bay stretches into the Continent towards theApalatæanMountains in the nature of a mid-land Sea, in which many of these Indians might have perished. To confirm my opinion in this point, I have heard several Indians testifie, that the Nation ofRickohockans, who dwell not far to the Westward of theApalatæanMountains, are seated upon a Land, as they term it, of great Waves; by which I suppose they mean the Sea-shore.
The next day after my arrival atAkenatzy, aRickohockanAmbassadour, attended by five Indians, whose faces were coloured withAuripigmentum(in which Mineral these parts do much abound) was received, and that night invited to a Ball of their fashion; but in the height of their mirth and dancing, by a smoke contrived for that purpose, the Room was suddenly darkned, and for what cause I know not, theRickohockanand his Retinue barbarously murthered. This struck me with such an affrightment, that the very next day, without taking my leave of them, I slunk away with my Indian Companion. Though the desire of informing my self further concerning some Minerals, asAuripigmentum, &c.which I there took special notice of, would have perswaded me to stay longer amongst them, had not the bloody example of their treachery to theRickohockansfrighted me away.
The fourteenth ofJune, pursuing a South-southwest course, sometimes by a beaten path, and sometimes over hills androcks, I was forc’d to take up my quarters in the Woods: for though theOenock-Indians, whom I then sought, were not in a direct line above thirty odde miles distant fromAkenatzy, yet the Ways were such, and obliged me to go so far about, that I reached notOenockuntil the sixteenth. The Country here, by the industry of these Indians, is very open, and clear of wood. Their Town is built round a field, where in their Sports they exercise with so much labour and violence, and in so great numbers, that I have seen the ground wet with the sweat that dropped from their bodies: their chief Recreation is Slinging of stones. They are of mean stature and courage, covetous and thievish, industrious to earn a peny; and therefore hire themselves out to their neighbours, who employ them as Carryers or Porters. They plant abundance of Grain, reap three Crops in a Summer, and out of their Granary supply all the adjacent parts. These and the Mountain-Indians build not their houses of Bark, but of Watling and Plaister. In Summer, the heat of the weather makes them chuse to lie abroad in the night under thin arbours of wilde Palm. Some houses they have of Reed and Bark; they build them generally round: to each house belongs a little hovel made like an oven, where they lay up their Corn and Mast, and keep it dry. They parch their Nuts and Acorns over the fire, to take away their rank Oyliness; which afterwards pressed, yeeld a milky liquor, and the Acorns an Amber-colour’d Oyl. In these, mingled together, they dip their Cakes at great Entertainments, and so serve them up to their guests as an extraordinary dainty. Their Government is Democratick; and the Sentences of their old men are received as Laws, or rather Oracles, by them.
Fourteen miles West-Southwest of theOenocks, dwell theShackory-Indians, upon a rich Soyl, and yet abounding in Antimony, of which they shewed me considerable quantities. Finding them agree with theOenocksin Customs and Manners, I made no stay here, but passing thorow theirTown, I travelled till the nineteenth ofJune; and then after a two days troublesome Journey thorow Thickets and Marish grounds, I arrived atWataryabove fourty miles distant, and bearing West-Southwest toShakor. This Nation differs in Government from all the other Indians of these parts: for they are Slaves, rather then Subjects to their King. Their present Monarch is a grave man, and courteous to strangers: yet I could not without horrour behold his barbarous Superstition, in hiring three youths, and sending them forth to kill as many young women of their Enemies as they could light on, to serve his son, then newly dead, in the other world, as he vainly fancyed. These youths during my stay returned with skins torn off the heads and faces of three young girls, which they presented to his Majestie, and were by him gratefully received.
I departed fromWatarythe one and twentieth ofJune, and keeping a West-course for near thirty miles, I came toSara: here I found the ways more level and easie.Sarais not far distant from the Mountains, which here lose their height, and change their course and name: for they run due West, and receive from the Spaniards the name ofSuala. From these Mountains or Hills the Indians draw great quantities ofCinabar, with which beaten to powder they colour their faces: this Mineral is of a deeper Purple thenVermilion, and is the same which is in so much esteem amongst Physitians, being the first element of Quicksilver.
I did likewise, to my no small admiration, find hard cakes of white Salt amongst them; but whether they were made of Sea-water, or taken out of Salt-pits, I know not: but am apt to believe the later, because the Sea is so remote from them. Many other rich Commodities and Minerals there are undoubtedly in these parts, which if possessed by an ingenious and industrious people, would be improved to vast advantages by Trade. But having tied my self up to things onely that I have seen in my Travels, I will deliver no Conjectures.
Lingua sile non est ultra narrabile quidquam.
These Indians are so indiscreetly fond of their children, that they will not chastise them for any mischief or insolence. A little Boy had shot an Arrow thorow my body, had I not reconciled him to me with gifts: and all this anger was, because I spurred my horse out of another Arrows way which he directed at him. This caused fetch a mutiny amongst the Youth of the Town, that the Seniors taking my horse and self into protection, had much ado (and that by intreaties and prayers, not commands) to appease them.
FromSaraI kept a South-Southwest course until the five and twentieth ofJune, and then I reachedWisacky. This three-days march was more troublesome to me then all my travels besides: for the direct way which I took fromSaratoWisackyis over a continued Marish over-grown with Reeds, from whose roots sprung knotty stumps as hard and sharp as Flint. I was forc’d to lead my horse most part of the way, and wonder that he was not either plunged in the Bogs, or lamed by those rugged knots.
This Nation is subject to a neighbour-King residing upon the bank of a great Lake calledUshery, invironed of all sides with Mountains, andWisackyMarish; and therefore I will detain the Reader no longer with the discourse of them, because I comprehend them in that ofUshery.
The six and, twentieth ofJune, having crossed a fresh River which runs into the Lake ofUshery, I came to the Town, which was more populous then any I had seen before in my March. The King dwells some three miles from it, and therefore I had no opportunity of seeing him the two nights which I stayed there. This Prince, though his Dominions are large and populous, is in continual fear of theOustack-Indians seated on the opposite side of the Lake; a people so addicted to Arms, that even their women come into the field, and shoot Arrows over their husbandsshoulders, who shield them with Leathern Targets. The men it seems should fight with Silver-Hatchets: for one of theUsheryestold me they were of the same metal with the Pomel of my Sword. They are a cruel generation, and prey upon people, whom they either steal, or force away from theUsheryesinPeriago’s, to sacrifice to their Idols. TheUshery-women delight much in feather-ornaments, of which they have great variety; but Peacocks in most esteem, because rare in those parts. They are reasonably handsome, and have more of civility in their carriage then I observed in the other Nations with whom I conversed; which is the reason that the men are more effeminate and lazie.
These miserable wretches are strangely infatuated with illusions of the devil: it caused no small horrour in me, to see one of them wrythe his neck all on one side, foam at the mouth, stand bare-foot upon burning coals for near an hour, and then recovering his senses, leap out of the fire without hurt, or signe of any. This I was an eye-witness of.
The water ofUshery-lake seemed to my taste a little brackish; which I rather impute to some Mineral-waters which flow into it, then to any saltness it can take from the Sea, which we may reasonably suppose is a great way from it. Many pleasant Rivulets fall into it, and it is stored with great plenty of excellent fish. I judged it to be about ten leagues broad: for were not the other shore very high, it could not be discerned fromUshery. How far this Lake tends Westerly, or where it ends, I could neither learn or guess.
Here I made a days stay, to inform my self further in these Countries; and understood both from theUsheries, and someSara-Indians that came to trade with them, that two-days journey and a half from hence to the Southwest, a powerful Nation of Bearded men were seated, which I suppose to be the Spaniards, because the Indians never have any; it being an universal custom amongst them, to preventtheir growth, by plucking the young hair out by the roots. Westward lies a Government inhospitable to strangers; and to the North, over theSuala-mountains, lay theRickohockans. I thought it not safe to venture my self amongst the Spaniards, lest taking me for a Spy, they would either make me away, or condemn me to a perpetual Slavery in their Mines. Therefore not thinking fit to proceed further, the eight and twentieth ofJuneI faced about, and looked homewards.
To avoidWisacky-Marish, I shaped my course Northeast; and after three days travel over hilly ways, where I met with no path or road, I fell into a barren Sandy desert, where I suffered miserably for want of water; the heat of the Summer having drunk all the Springs dry, and left no signe of any, but the Gravelly chanels in which they run: so that if now and then I had not found a standing Pool, which provident Nature set round with shady Oaks, to defend it from the ardour of the Sun, my Indian companion, horse and self had certainly perished with thirst. In this distress we travelled till the twelfth ofJuly, and then found the head of a River, which afterwards provedEruco; in which we received not onely the comfort of a necessary and seasonable refreshment, but likewise the hopes of coming into a Country again where we might finde Game for food at least, if not discover some new Nation or People. Nor did our hopes fail us: for after we had crossed the River twice, we were led by it upon the fourteenth ofJulyto the Town ofKatearas, a place of great Indian Trade and Commerce, and chief Seat of the haughty Emperour of theToskiroro’s, calledKaskusara, vulgarlyKaskous. His grim Majestie, upon my first appearance, demanded my Gun and Shot; which I willingly parted with, to ransom my self out of his clutches: for he was the most proud imperious Barbarian that I met with in all my Marches. The people here at this time seemed prepared for some extraordinarySolemnity: for the men and the women of better sort had decked themselves very fine with pieces of bright Copper in their hair and ears, and about their arms and neck, which upon Festival occasions they use as an extraordinary bravery: by which it should seem this Country is not without rich Mines of Copper. But I durst not stay to inform my self further in it, being jealous of some sudden mischief towards me fromKaskous, his nature being bloudy, and provoked upon any slight occasion.
Therefore leavingKatearas, I travelled through the Woods until the sixteenth, upon which I came toKawitziokan, an Indian town upon a branch ofRorenoke-river, which here I passed over, continuing my journey to Menchœrinck; and on the seventeenth departing from thence, I lay all night in the Woods, and the next morning betimes going byNatoway, I reached that eveningApamatuckinVirginia, where I was not a little overjoyed to see Christian faces again.