The History of Virginia Part 11

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Lith. of Ritchie & Dunnavant Richmond._ Fig. 2 Fig. 1 Tab 5 Book 3 Pag. 131]

TAB. V. Is a couple of young women. The first wearing a coronet, necklace and bracelet of peak; the second a wreath of furs on her head, and her hair is bound with a fillet of peak and beads. Between the two is a woman under a tree making a basket of silk gra.s.s after their own manner.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Lith. of Ritchies & Dunnavant Richmond, Va._ Pipe of peace v. ch. I have seen. Lahontans Calumet of peace.

a Birchen Canoe or Canoe of Bark Tab. 6 Book 3 Pag. 132]

TAB. VI. Is a woman and a boy running after her. One of her hands rests in her necklace of peak, and the other holds a gourd, in which they put water or other liquid.

The boy wears a necklace of runtees, in his right hand is an Indian rattle, and in his left a roasting ear of corn. Round his waist is a small string, and another brought cross through his crotch, and for decency a soft skin is fastened before.

Runtees are made of the conch sh.e.l.l as the peak is, only the shape is flat and round like a cheese, and drilled edge ways.

CHAPTER II.

OF THE MARRIAGES AMONGST THE INDIANS, AND MANAGEMENT OF THEIR CHILDREN.

-- 6. The Indians have their solemnities of marriage, and esteem the vows made at that time as most sacred and inviolable. Notwithstanding they allow both the man and the wife to part upon disagreement, yet so great is the disreputation of a divorce, that married people, to avoid the character of inconstant and ungenerous, very rarely let their quarrels proceed to a separation. However, when it does so happen, they reckon all the ties of matrimony dissolved, and each hath the liberty of marrying another. But infidelity is accounted the most unpardonable of all crimes in either of the parties as long as the contract continues.

In these separations, the children go, according to the affection of the parent, with the one or the other; for children are not reckoned a charge among them, but rather riches, according to the blessing of the Old Testament; and if they happen to differ about dividing their children, their method is then to part them equally, allowing the man the first choice.

-- 7. Though the young Indian women are said to prost.i.tute their bodies for wampom peak, runtees, beads, and other such like fineries; yet I never could find any ground for the accusation, and believe it only to be an unjust scandal upon them. This I know, that if ever they have a child while they are single, it is such a disgrace to them that they never after get husbands. Besides, I must do them the justice to say, I never heard of a child any of them had before marriage, and the Indians themselves disown any such custom; though they acknowledge, at the same time, that the maidens are entirely at their own disposal, and may manage their persons as they think fit.

-- 8. The manner of the Indians treating their young children is very strange; for instead of keeping them warm, at their first entry into the world, and wrapping them up, with I don't know how many clothes, according to our fond custom, the first thing they do is to dip the child over head and ears in cold water, and then to bind it naked to a convenient board, having a hole fitly placed for evacuation; but they always put cotton, wool, fur, or other soft things, for the body to rest easy on, between the child and the board. In this posture they keep it several months, till the bones begin to harden, the joints to knit, and the limbs to grow strong; and then they let it loose from the board, suffering it to crawl about, except when they are feeding or playing with it.

While the child is thus at the board, they either lay it flat on its back, or set it leaning on one end, or else hang it up by a string fastened to the upper end of the board for that purpose; the child and board being all this while carried about together. As our women undress their children to clean and s.h.i.+ft their linen, so they do theirs to wash and grease them.

The method the women have of carrying their children after they are suffered to crawl about, is very particular; they carry them at their backs in summer, taking one leg of the child under their arm, and the counter-arm of the child in their hand over their shoulder; the other leg hanging down, and the child all the while holding fast with its other hand; but in winter they carry them in the hollow of their match-coat at their back, leaving nothing but the child's head out, as appears by the figure.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Lith. of Ritchies & Dunnavant Richmond._ Fig: 2. Fig: 3. Fig: 1.

Tab: 7. Book 3. Pag: 134]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Lith. of Ritchies & Dunnavant Richmond._ Tab. 8 Book 3 Pag. 135]

CHAPTER III.

OF THE TOWNS, BUILDINGS AND FORTIFICATIONS OF THE INDIANS.

-- 9. The method of the Indian settlements is altogether by cohabitation, in towns.h.i.+ps, from fifty to five hundred families in a town, and each of these towns is commonly a kingdom. Sometimes one king has the command of several of these towns, when they happen to be united in his hands by descent or conquest; but in such cases there is always a vicegerent appointed in the dependent town, who is at once governor, judge, chancellor, and has the same power and authority which the king himself has in the town where he resides. This viceroy is obliged to pay his princ.i.p.al some small tribute, as an acknowledgment of his submission, as likewise to follow him to his wars whenever he is required.

-- 10. The manner the Indians have of building their houses is very slight and cheap. When they would erect a wigwam, which is the Indian name for a house, they stick saplings into the ground by one end, and bend the other at the top, fastening them together by strings made of fibrous roots, the rind of trees, or of the green wood of the white oak, which will rive into thongs. The smallest sort of these cabins are conical like a bee-hive; but the larger are built in an oblong form, and both are covered with the bark of trees, which will rive off into great flakes. Their windows are little holes left open for the pa.s.sage of the light, which in bad weather they stop with shutters of the same bark, opening the leeward windows for air and light. Their chimney, as among the true born Irish, is a little hole on the top of the house, to let out the smoke, having no sort of funnel, or any thing within, to confine the smoke from ranging through the whole roof of the cabin, if the vent will not let it out fast enough. The fire is always made in the middle of the cabin. Their door is a pendent mat, when they are near home; but when they go abroad they barricade it with great logs of wood set against the mat, which are sufficient to keep out wild beasts.

There's never more than one room in a house, except in some houses of state, or religion, where the part.i.tion is made only by mats and loose poles.

-- 11. Their houses, or cabins, as we call them, are by this ill method of building continually smoky when they have fire in them; but to ease that inconvenience, and to make the smoke less troublesome to their eyes, they generally burn pine or lightwood, (that is, the fat knots of dead pine,) the smoke of which does not offend the eyes, but s.m.u.ts the skin exceedingly, and is perhaps another occasion of the darkness of their complexion.

-- 12. Their seats, like those in the eastern part of the world, are the ground itself; and as the people of distinction amongst those used carpets, so cleanliness has taught the better sort of these to spread match-coats and mats to sit on.

They take up their lodging in the sides of their cabins upon a couch made of boards, sticks, or reeds, which are raised from the ground upon forks, and covered with mats or skins. Sometimes they lie upon a bear skin, or other thick pelt dressed with the hair on, and laid upon the ground near a fire, covering themselves with their match-coats. In warm weather a single mat is their only bed, and another rolled up their pillow. In their travels, a gra.s.s plat under the covert of a shady tree, is all the lodging they require, and is as pleasant and refres.h.i.+ng to them as a down bed and fine Holland sheets are to us.

-- 13. Their fortifications consist only of a palisade, of about ten or twelve feet high; and when they would make themselves very safe, they treble the pale. They often encompa.s.s their whole town; but for the most part only their king's houses, and as many others as they judge sufficient to harbor all their people when an enemy comes against them.

They never fail to secure within their palisade all their religious relics, and the remains of their princes. Within this inclosure, they likewise take care to have a supply of water, and to make a place for a fire, which they frequently dance round with great solemnity.

CHAPTER IV.

OF THEIR COOKERY AND FOOD.

-- 14. Their cookery has nothing commendable in it, but that it is performed with little trouble. They have no other sauce but a good stomach, which they seldom want. They boil, broil, or toast all the meat they eat, and it is very common with them to boil fish as well as flesh with their h.o.m.ony; this is Indian corn soaked, broken in a mortar, husked, and then boiled in water over a gentle fire for ten or twelve hours, to the consistence of frumenty: the thin of this is what my Lord Bacon calls cream of maise, and highly commends for an excellent sort of nutriment.

They have two ways of broiling, viz., one by laying the meat itself upon the coals, the other by laying it upon sticks raised upon forks at some distance above the live coals, which heats more gently, and dries up the gravy; this they, and we also from them, call barbecueing.

They skin and paunch all sorts of quadrupeds; they draw and pluck their fowl; but their fish they dress with their scales on, without gutting; but in eating they leave the scales, entrails and bones to be thrown away. They also roast their fish upon a hot hearth, covering them with hot ashes and coals, then take them out, the scales and skin they strip clean off, so they eat the flesh, leaving the bones and entrails to be thrown away.

They never serve up different sorts of victuals in one dish; as roast and boiled fish and flesh; but always serve them up in several vessels.

They bake their bread either in cakes before the fire, or in loaves on a warm hearth, covering the loaf first with leaves, then with warm ashes, and afterwards with coals over all.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Lith. of Ritchie & Dunnavant Richmond._ Tab. 9 Book 3 Pag. 139]

TAB. IX. Represents the manner of their roasting and barbecueing, with the form of their baskets for common uses, and carrying fish.

-- 15. Their food is fish and flesh of all sorts, and that which partic.i.p.ates of both; as the beaver, a small kind of turtle, or terrapins, (as we call them,) and several species of snakes. They likewise eat grubs, the nymphae of wasps, some kinds of scarabaei, cicadae, &c. These last are such as are sold in the markets of Fess, and such as the Arabians, Lybians, Parthians and aethiopians commonly eat; so that these are not a new diet, though a very slender one; and we are informed that St. John was dieted upon locusts and wild honey.

They make excellent broth of the head and umbles of a deer, which they put into the pot all b.l.o.o.d.y. This seems to resemble the _jus nigrum_ of the Spartans, made with the blood and bowels of a hare. They eat not the brains with the head, but dry them and reserve them to dress their leather with.

They eat all sorts of peas, beans, and other pulse, both parched and boiled. They make their bread of the Indian corn, wild oats, or the seed of the sunflower. But when they eat their bread, they eat it alone, and not with their meat.

They have no salt among them, but for seasoning use the ashes of hickory, stickweed, or some other wood or plant affording a salt ash.

They delight much to feed on roasting ears; that is, the Indian corn, gathered green and milky, before it is grown to its full bigness, and roasted before the fire in the ear. For the sake of this diet, which they love exceedingly, they are very careful to procure all the several sorts of Indian corn before mentioned, by which means they contrive to prolong their season. And indeed this is a very sweet and pleasing food.

They have growing near their towns, peaches, strawberries, cushaws, melons, pompions, mac.o.c.ks, &c. The cushaws and pompions they lay by, which will keep several months good after they are gathered; the peaches they save by drying them in the sun; they have likewise several sorts of the phaseoli.

In the woods, they gather c.h.i.n.kapins, chestnuts, hickories and walnuts.

The kernels of the hickories they beat in a mortar with water, and make a white liquor like milk, from whence they call our milk hickory.

Hazelnuts they will not meddle with, though they make a s.h.i.+ft with acorns sometimes, and eat all the other fruits mentioned before, but they never eat any sort of herbs or leaves.

They make food of another fruit called cuttanimmons, the fruit of a kind of arum, growing in the marshes: they are like boiled peas or capers to look on, but of an insipid earthy taste. Captain Smith in his History of Virginia calls them ocaughtanamnis, and Theod. de Bry in his translation, sacquenummener.