book II, chap. 3, Sec. 9. The Indians call this by the name of pawcorance,

from whence proceeds the great reverence they have for a small bird that uses the woods, and in their note continually sound that name. This bird flies alone, and is only heard in the twilight. They say, this is the soul of one of their princes; and on that score, they would not hurt it for the world. But there was once a profane Indian in the upper parts of James river, who, after abundance of fears and scruples, was at last bribed to kill one of them with his gun; but the Indians say he paid dear for his presumption; for in a few days after he was taken away, and never more heard of. I have young birds of this kind.

When they travel by any of these altars, they take great care to instruct their children and young people in the particular occasion and time of their erection, and recommend the respect which they ought to have for them; so that their careful observance of these traditions proves almost as good a memorial of such antiquities as written records, especially for so long as the same people continue to inhabit in or near the same place.

I can't understand that their women ever pretended to intermeddle with any offices that relate to the priesthood or conjuration.

Sec. 40. The Indians are religious in preserving the corpses of their kings and rulers after death, which they order in the following manner: First, they neatly flay off the skin as entire as they can, slitting it only in the back; then they pick all the flesh off from the bones as clean as possible, leaving the sinews fastened to the bones, that they may preserve the joints together; then they dry the bones in the sun, and put them into the skin again, which, in the meantime, has been kept from drying or shrinking; when the bones are placed right in the skin, they nicely fill up the vacuities with a very fine white sand. After this they sew up the skin again, and the body looks as if the flesh had not been removed. They take care to keep the skin from shrinking, by the help of a little oil or grease, which saves it also from corruption. The skin being thus prepared, they lay it in an apartment for that purpose, upon a large shelf raised above the floor. This shelf is spread with mats, for the corpse to rest easy on, and skreened with the same, to keep it from the dust. The flesh they lay upon hurdles in the sun to dry, and when it is thoroughly dried, it is sewed up in a basket, and set at the feet of the corpse, to which it belongs. In this place also they set up a quioccos, or idol, which they believe will be a guard to the corpse. Here night and day one or other of the priests must give his attendance, to take care of the dead bodies. So great an honor and veneration have these ignorant and unpolished people for their princes, even after they are dead.

The mat is supposed to be turned up in the figure, that the inside may be viewed.

TAB. 12. Represents the burial of the kings.