Chapter 21

One of their Expeditions afforded an Instance, worthy mention, which was thus; Two Nations of Indians here in Carolina were at War together, and a Party of each were in the Forest ranging to see what Enemies they could take. The lesser Number found they were discover'd, and could not well get over a River (that lay betwixt them and their home) without engaging the other Party, whose Numbers were much the greater; so they call'd a Council, which met, and having weigh'd their present Circumstances with a great deal of Argument and Debate, for a considerable time, and found their Enemies Advantage, and that they could expect no Success in Engaging such an unequal Number; they, at last, concluded on this Stratagem, which, in my Opinion, carried a great deal of Policy along with it. {Indian Politicks.} It was, That the same Night, they should make a great Fire, which they were certain would be discover'd by the adverse Party, and there dress up Logs of Wood in their Cloaths, and make them exactly seem like Indians, that were asleep by the Fireside; (which is their Way, when in the Woods) so, said they, our Enemies will fire upon these Images, supposing them to be us, who will lie in Ambuscade, and, after their Guns are unloaded, shall deal well enough with them. This Result was immediately put in Execution, and the Fire was made by the side of a Valley, where they lay perdu very advantageously. Thus, a little before Break of Day, (which commonly is the Hour they surprize their Enemies in) the Indians came down to their Fire, and at once fired in upon those Logs in the Indians Cloaths, and run up to them, expecting they had kill'd every Man dead; but they found themselves mistaken, for then the other Indians, who had lain all the Night stark-naked in the Bottom, attack'd them with their loaded Pieces, which so surprized them, that every Man was taken Prisoner, and brought in bound to their Town.

Another Instance was betwixt the Machapunga Indians, and the Coranine's, on the Sand-Banks; which was as follows. {Machapunga King Charles.} The Machapungas were invited to a Feast, by the Coranines; (which two Nations had been a long time at War together, and had lately concluded a Peace.) Thereupon, the Machapunga Indians took the Advantage of coming to the Coranines Feast, which was to avoid all Suspicion, and their King, who, of a Savage, is a great Politician and very stout, order'd all his Men to carry their Tamahauks along with them, hidden under their Match-Coats, which they did; and being acquainted when to fall on, by the Word given, they all (upon this Design) set forward for the Feast, and came to the Coranine Town, where they had gotten Victuals, Fruit, and such things as make an Indian Entertainment, all ready to make these new Friends welcome, which they did; and, after Dinner, towards the Evening, (as it is customary amongst them) they went to Dancing, all together; so when the Machapunga King saw the best Opportunity offer, he gave the Word, and his Men pull'd their Tamahauks or Hatchets from under their Match-Coats, and kill'd several, and took the rest Prisoners, except some few that were not present, and about four or five that escap'd. The Prisoners they sold Slaves to the English. At the time this was done, those Indians had nothing but Bows and Arrows, neither side having Guns.

The Indians are very revengeful, and never forget an Injury done, till they have receiv'd Satisfaction. Yet they are the freest People from Heats and Passions (which possess the Europeans) of any I ever heard of. {Drunkenness in Indians.} They never call any Man to account for what he did, when he was drunk; but say, it was the Drink that caused his Misbehaviour, therefore he ought to be forgiven: They never frequent a Christian's House that is given to Passion, nor will they ever buy or sell with him, if they can get the same Commodities of any other Person; for they say, such Men are mad Wolves, and no more Men.

{Indians not Jealous.} They know not what Jealousy is, because they never think their Wives are unconstant, unless they are Eye-witnesses thereof. They are generally very bashful, especially the young Maids, who when they come into a strange Cabin, where they are not acquainted, never ask for any thing, though never so hungry or thirsty, but sit down, without speaking a Word (be it never so long) till some of the House asks them a Question, or falls into Discourse, with the Stranger. I never saw a Scold amongst them, and to their Children they are extraordinary tender and indulgent; neither did I ever see a Parent correct a Child, excepting one Woman, that was the King's Wife, and she (indeed) did possess a Temper that is not commonly found amongst them. {Indians Complements.} They are free from all manner of Compliments, except Shaking of Hands, and Scratching on the Shoulder, which two are the greatest Marks of Sincerity and Friendship, that can be shew'd one to another. They cannot express fare you well; but when they leave the House, will say, I go straightway, which is to intimate their Departure; and if the Man of the House has any Message to send by the going Man, he may acquaint him therewith. Their Tongue allows not to say, Sir, I am your Servant; because they have no different Titles for Man, only King, War-Captain, Old Man, or Young Man, which respect the Stations and Circumstances Men are employ'd in, and arriv'd to, and not Ceremony. As for Servant, they have no such thing, except Slave, and their Dogs, Cats, tame or domestick Beasts, and Birds, are call'd by the same Name: For the Indian Word for Slave includes them all. So when an Indian tells you he has got a Slave for you, it may (in general Terms, as they use) be a young Eagle, a Dog, Otter, or any other thing of that Nature, which is obsequiously to depend on the Master for its Sustenance.

{Indians not afraid of Spirits.} They are never fearful in the Night, nor do the Thoughts of Spirits ever trouble them; such as the many Hobgoblins and Bugbears that we suck in with our Milk, and the Foolery of our Nurses and Servants suggest to us; who by their idle Tales of Fairies, and Witches, make such Impressions on our tender Years, that at Maturity, we carry Pigmies Souls, in Giants Bodies, and ever after are thereby so much depriv'd of Reason, and unman'd, as never to be Masters of half the Bravery Nature design'd for us.

Not but that the Indians have as many Lying Stories of Spirits and Conjurers, as any People in the World; but they tell it with no Disadvantage to themselves; for the great Esteem which the Old Men bring themselves to, is by making the others believe their Familiarity with Devils and Spirits, and how great a Correspondence they have therewith, which if it once gains Credit, they ever after are held in the greatest Veneration imaginable, and whatever they after impose upon the People, is receiv'd as infallible. They are so little startled at the Thoughts of another World, that they not seldom murder themselves; as for Instance, a Bear-River Indian, a very likely young Fellow, about twenty Years of Age, whose Mother was angry at his drinking of too much Rum, and chid him for it, thereupon reply'd, he would have her satisfied, and he would do the like no more; upon which he made his Words good; for he went aside, and shot himself dead. This was a Son of the politick King of the Machapunga, I spoke of before, and has the most Cunning of any Indian I ever met withal.

Most of the Savages are much addicted to Drunkenness, a Vice they never were acquainted with, till the Christians came amongst them. Some of them refrain drinking strong Liquors, but very few of that sort are found amongst them. Their chief Liquor is Rum, without any Mixture. This the English bring amongst them, and buy Skins, Furs, Slaves and other of their Commodities therewith. They never are contented with a little, but when once begun, they must make themselves quite drunk; otherwise they will never rest, but sell all they have in the World, rather than not have their full Dose. In these drunken Frolicks, (which are always carried on in the Night) they sometimes murder one another, fall into the Fire, fall down Precipices, and break their Necks, with several other Misfortunes which this drinking of Rum brings upon them; and tho' they are sensible of it, yet they have no Power to refrain this Enemy. About five years ago, when Landgrave Daniel was Governour, he summon'd in all the Indian Kings and Rulers to meet, and in a full Meeting of the Government and Council, with those Indians, they agreed upon a firm Peace, and the Indian Rulers desired no Rum might be sold to them, which was granted, and a Law made, that inflicted a Penalty on those that sold Rum to the Heathens; but it was never strictly observ'd, and besides, the young Indians were so disgusted at that Article, that they threatned to kill the Indians that made it, unless it was laid aside, and they might have Rum sold them, when they went to the Englishmens Houses to buy it.

Some of the Heathens are so very poor, that they have no Manner of Cloaths, save a Wad of Moss to hide their Nakedness. These are either lusty and will not work; otherwise, they are given to Gaming or Drunkenness; yet these get Victuals as well as the rest, because that is common amongst them. If they are caught in theft they are Slaves till they repay the Person, (as I mention'd before) but to steal from the English they reckon no Harm. Not but that I have known some few Savages that have been as free from Theft as any of the Christians. When they have a Design to lie with a Woman, which they cannot obtain any otherwise than by a larger Reward than they are able to give, they then strive to make her drunk, which a great many of them will be; then they take the Advantage, to do with them what they please, and sometimes in their Drunkenness, cut off their Hair and sell it to the English, which is the greatest Affront can be offer'd them. They never value Time; for if they be going out to hunt, fish, or any other indifferent Business, you may keep them in talk as long as you please, so you but keep them in Discourse, and seem pleased with their Company; yet none are more expeditious and safer Messengers than they, when any extraordinary Business that they are sent about requires it.

{Not pass over a Tree.} When they are upon travelling the Woods, they keep a constant Pace, neither will they stride over a Tree that lies cross the Path, but always go round it, which is quite contrary to the Custom of the English, and other Europeans. {Cut with a Knife how. A Knife of Reed.} When they cut with a Knife, the Edge is towards them, whereas we always cut and whittle from us. {Not left-handed.} Nor did I ever see one of them left-handed. {Get Fire how.} Before the Christians came amongst them, not knowing the Use of Steel and Flints, they got their Fire with Sticks, which by vehement Collision, or Rubbing together, take Fire. This Method they will sometimes practise now, when it has happen'd thro' rainy Weather, or some other Accident, that they have wet their Spunk, which is a sort of soft corky Substance, generally of a Cinnamon Colour, and grows in the concave part of an Oak, Hiccory, and several other Woods, being dug out with an Ax, and always kept by the Indians, instead of Tinder or Touch-wood, both which it exceeds. You are to understand, that the two Sticks they use to strike Fire withal, are never of one sort of Wood, but always differ from each other.

They are expert Travellers, and though they have not the Use of our artificial Compass, yet they understand the North-point exactly, let them be in never so great a Wilderness. One Guide is a short Moss, that grows upon some Trees, exactly on the North-Side thereof.

{Indian Compass.} Besides, they have Names for eight of the thirty two Points, and call the Winds by their several Names, as we do; but indeed more properly, for the North-West Wind is called the cold Wind; the North-East the wet Wind; the South the warm Wind; and so agreeably of the rest. Sometimes it happens, that they have a large River or Lake to pass over, and the Weather is very foggy, as it often happens in the Spring and Fall of the Leaf; so that they cannot see which Course to steer: In such a Case, they being on one side of the River, or Lake, they know well enough what Course such a Place (which they intend for) bears from them. Therefore, they get a great many Sticks and Chunks of Wood in their Canoe, and then set off directly for their Port, and now and then throw over a Piece of Wood, which directs them, by seeing how the Stick bears from the Canoes Stern, which they always observe to keep right aft; and this is the Indian Compass by which they will go over a broad Water of ten or twenty Leagues wide. They will find the Head of any River, though it is five, six or seven hundred miles off, and they never were there, in their Lives before; as is often prov'd, by their appointing to meet on the Head of such a River, where perhaps, none of them ever was before, but where they shall rendezvous exactly at the prefixt time; and if they meet with any Obstruction, they leave certain Marks in the Way, where they that come after will understand how many have pass'd by already, and which way they are gone. Besides, in their War Expeditions, they have very certain Hieroglyphicks, whereby each Party informs the other of the Success or Losses they have met withal; all which is so exactly perform'd by their Sylvian Marks and Characters, that they are never at a Loss to understand one another. Yet there was never found any Letters amongst the Savages of Carolina; nor, I believe, among any other Natives in America, that were possess'd with any manner of Writing or Learning throughout all the Discoveries of the New-World. {Indians make Maps.} They will draw Maps, very exactly, of all the Rivers, Towns, Mountains, and Roads, or what you shall enquire of them, which you may draw by their Directions, and come to a small matter of Latitude, reckoning by their Days Journeys. These Maps they will draw in the Ashes of the Fire, and sometimes upon a Mat or Piece of Bark. I have put a Pen and Ink into a Savage's Hand, and he has drawn me the Rivers, Bays, and other Parts of a Country, which afterwards I have found to agree with a great deal of Nicety: But you must be very much in their Favour, otherwise they will never make these Discoveries to you; especially, if it be in their own Quarters. {No Discovery of Mines.} And as for Mines of Silver and other Metals, we are satisfied we have enow, and those very rich, in Carolina and its adjacent Parts; some of which the Indians are acquainted withal, although no Enquirers thereafter, but what came, and were discover'd, by Chance; yet they say, it is this Metal that the English covet, as they do their Peak and Ronoak; and that we have gain'd Ground of them wherever we have come. Now, say they, if we should discover these Minerals to the English, they would settle at or near these Mountains, and bereave us of the best Hunting-Quarters we have, as they have already done wherever they have inhabited; so by that means, we shall be driven to some unknown Country, to live, hunt, and get our Bread in. These are the Reasons that the Savages give, for not making known what they are acquainted withal, of that Nature. And indeed, all Men that have ever gone upon those Discoveries, allow them to be good; {Mr. Mitchell.} more especially, my ingenious Friend Mr. Francis-Louis Mitchell, of Bern in Switzerland, who has been, for several Years, very indefatigable and strict in his Discoveries amongst those vast Ledges of Mountains, and spacious Tracts of Land, lying towards the Heads of the great Bays and Rivers of Virginia, Maryland, and Pensylvania, where he has discover'd a spacious Country inhabited by none but the Savages, and not many of them; who yet are of a very friendly Nature to the Christians. This Gentleman has been employ'd by the Canton of Bern, to find out a Tract of Land in the English America, where that Republick might settle some of their People; which Proposal, I believe, is now in a fair way towards a Conclusion, between her Majesty of Great-Britain and that Canton. {Switzers Settlement in America.} Which must needs be of great Advantage to both; and as for ourselves, I believe, no Man that is in his Wits, and understands the Situation and Affairs of America, but will allow, nothing can be of more Security and Advantage to the Crown and Subjects of Great-Britain, than to have our Frontiers secured by a warlike People, and our Friends, as the Switzers are; especially when we have more Indians than we can civilize, and so many Christian Enemies lying on the back of us, that we do not know how long or short a time it may be, before they visit us. Add to these, the Effects and Product that may be expected from those Mountains; which may hereafter prove of great Advantage to the British Monarchy, and none more fit than an industrious People, bred in a mountainous Country, and inur'd to all the Fatigues of War and Travel, to improve a Country. Thus we have no room to doubt, but as soon as any of those Parts are seated by the Switzers, a great many Britains will strive to live amongst them, for the Benefit of the sweet Air and healthful Climate, which that Country affords, were it only for the Cultivating of Hemp, Flax, Wine, and other valuable Staples, which those People are fully acquainted withal: Not to mention the Advantages already discover'd by that worthy Gentleman I just now spoke of, who is highly deserving of the Conduct and Management of such an Affair, as that wise Canton has entrusted him withal.

{Hunting of the Savages.} When these Savages go a hunting, they commonly go out in great Numbers, and oftentimes a great many Days Journey from home, beginning at the coming in of the Winter; that is, when the Leaves are fallen from the Trees, and are become dry. 'Tis then they burn the Woods, by setting Fire to the Leaves, and wither'd Bent and Grass, {Moss Match.} which they do with a Match made of the black Moss that hangs on the Trees in Carolina, and is sometimes above six Foot long. This, when dead, becomes black, (tho' of an Ash-Colour before) and will then hold Fire as well as the best Match we have in Europe. In Places, where this Moss is not found, (as towards the Mountains) they make Lintels of the Bark of Cypress beaten, which serve as well. Thus they go and fire the Woods for many Miles, and drive the Deer and other Game into small Necks of Land and Isthmus's, where they kill and destroy what they please. In these Hunting-Quarters, they have their Wives and Ladies of the Camp, where they eat all the Fruits and Dainties of that Country, and live in all the Mirth and Jollity, which it is possible for such People to entertain themselves withal. Here it is, that they get their Complement of Deer-Skins and Furs to trade with the English, (the Deer-Skins being in Season in Winter, which is contrary to England.) All small Game, as Turkeys, Ducks, and small Vermine, they commonly kill with Bow and Arrow, thinking it not worth throwing Powder and Shot after them. Of Turkeys they have abundance; especially, in Oak-Land, as most of it is, that lies any distance backwards. I have been often in their Hunting-Quarters, where a roasted or barbakued Turkey, eaten with Bears Fat, is held a good Dish; and indeed, I approve of it very well; for the Bears Grease is the sweetest and least offensive to the Stomach (as I said before) of any Fat of Animals I ever tasted. {Beating of Corn.} The Savage Men never beat their Corn to make Bread; but that is the Womens Work, especially the Girls, of whom you shall see four beating with long great Pestils in a narrow wooden Mortar; and every one keeps her Stroke so exactly, that 'tis worthy of Admiration. Their Cookery continues from Morning till Night. The Hunting makes them hungry; and the Indians are a People that always eat very often, not seldom getting up at Midnight, to eat. They plant a great many sorts of Pulse, Part of which they eat green in the Summer, keeping great Quantities for their Winter-Store, which they carry along with them into the Hunting-Quarters, and eat them.