like breadth In the Center of the City is a Square of Ten Acres at each Angle are to be Houses for Publick Affairs as a Meeting-House Assembly or State-House Market-House School-House and several other Buildings for Publick Concerns There are also in each Quarter of the City a Square of eight Acres to be for the like Uses as the More-Fields in London and eight Streets besides the said High Street that run from Front to Front and twenty Streets besides the Broad Street that run cross the City from side to side all these Streets are of fifty Foot breadth CHAP. VIII A Prospect of Mary-land with the Plantation Scituation and Product thereof THE Province is bounded on the North with Pensylvania on the East by Delaware Bay and the Atlantick Ocean on the South by Virginia from whence it is parted by the River Patowmecâ— Chesopeak Bay is the passage for Ships both into this Countrey and Virginia and runs through the middle of Maryland being found Navigable neer 200. miles into the Land into which fall divers very considerable Rivers The Climate is very agreeable to the English Constitution especially since the cleering of the ground from Trees and Woods which formerly caused much unhealthfulness neither is the heat extream in Summer being much qualified by the cool winds from the Sea and refreshing Showers and the Winter so moderate as doth no way incommode the Inhabitants It is seated between 37 and 40 Degrees of North Latitude and was discovered at the same time with Virginia Our first Discoverers relate many strange Rites and Ceremonies used by the Native Indians Mr. T. H. an Englishman writes they believe there are many Gods which they call Mantoac but of different sorts and degrees yet that there is one only Chief and Great God which hath been from all Eternity who they say when he purposed to make the World created first other Gods of a Principal Order to be as Means and Instruments used in the Creation and then the Sun Moon and Stars as petty Gods Out of the Waters they affirm all the diversity of Creatures were made and for Mankind that Woman was made first who by the assistance of one of the Gods conceived and brought forth Children but know not how long it was since this was done having no Arithmetick nor Records but only Tradition from Father to Son They make the Images of their Gods in the Shapes of men placing one at least in their Houses or Temples where they worship pray sing and make offerings They believe that after this Life the Soul shall be disposed of according to its works here either to the habitacle of the Gods to enjoy perpetual happiness or to a great pit or hole in the furthest part of their Countrey toward Sunset which they think the furthest part of the World there to be burnt continually This place they call Popogusso and relate that the Grave of one who was buried was the next day seen to move whereupon his Body was taken up again who then revived and declared that his Soul was very near entring into Popogusso had not one of the Gods saved him and suffered him to return and warn his Friends to avoid that terrible place another being taken up related that his Soul was alive while his Body was in the Grave and had been Travelling in a long broad way on both sides whereof grew delicate Trees bearing excellent Fruits and at length arrived to most curious Houses where he met his Father that was dead before who charged him to go back and shew his Friends what good they were to do to enjoy the pleasures of this place and then to return to him again whatever tricks or subtilty the Priests use the Vulgar are hereby very respectful to their Governours and careful of their Actions though in Criminal Causes they inflict punishments according to the quality of the offence they are great Necromancers and account our Fire-works Guns and Writing to be the Works of Gods rather than Men when one of their Kings was sick he sent to the English to pray for him some of them imagin that we are not mortal Men nor born of women but an old Generation revived and believe that there are more of us yet to come to kil their nation and take their places who are at present invisibly in the Air without bodys and that at their Intercession they cause those of their Nation to â—â—e who wrong the English Their Idol they place in the innermost room of their House of whom they relate incredible storys they carry it with them to the Wars and ask Counsel thereof as the Romans did of their Oracles They sing Songs as they march toward battel instead of Drums and Trumpets their Wars are exceeding bloudy and have wasted the people very much A certain King called Piemacum having invited many men and Women of the Secotans to a Feast whilst they were merry and praying before their Idol came upon them and slew them When one of their Kings had conspired against the English a Chiefman about him said That we were the servants of God and not subject to be destroyed by them and that when we were dead we could do them more hurt than when alive One Owen Griffin an Eye-witness thus tells of their Ceremonies The eldest among them riseth upright the rest sitting still and looking about cryes out aloud Baw Waw then the women fall down and lie upon the ground and repeating Baw Waw altogether fall to stamping furiously with both feet round the Fire making the ground shake with dreadful shoutings and outcryes thrusting firebrands into the Earth and then ceasing a while of a sudden they begin as before stamping till the younger sort fetched many stones from the shoar of which every man took one and first beat upon them with their firesticks and then the earth with all their strength in which exercise they continued above two hours after which they that had wives withdrew themselves with them severally into the Woods this seemed to be their Evening Devotion when they have obtained some great Victory or deliverance they use solemn rejoycing by making a great Fire and incompassing the same promiscuously men and women together making a great noise with rattles in their hands Once a year they hold a great Festival meeting together out of divers Villages each having a certain Mark or Character on his back whereby it may be discerned whose Subject he is The place where they meet is spacious and round about are Posts carved on the top like a Nuns head in the midst are three of the fairest Virgins lovingly imbracing and clasping each other about this living Image and Artificial Circle they dance in their Savage manner Their chief Idol called Kiwasa is made of wood four foot High the face resembling the Inhabitants of Florida painted with flesh-colour the brest white the other parts black the legs only spotted with white with chains and strings of Beads about
and hath retained the name ever since It is of a small extent not above three Leagues or nine Miles in length and neer as much in bredth so that it seems almost round It lies in the Latitude of seventeen degrees on this side the Line full of mountains whereon grow plenty of Cedar and other Trees The Valleys and plains being very fertile It is chiefly inhabited by the Irish with some English in all about six or seaven hundred persons There is in it a very fair Church of a delightful structure built by the contributions of the Governor and Inhabitants The Pulpit Seats and all the Joyners and Carpenters work within it are of the most precious and sweet-scented wood growing in the Countrey On the Coasts of these Islands there is sometimes taken by the Fishers a Monster so dreadful that they call it the Sea-Devil about four foot long and proportionably big it hath on the back a great bunch full of Prickles like an Hedghog The Skin thereof is hard uneven and rugged like that of a Sea-dog and of a black colour the head is flat and on the upper part hath many little risings and among them two small very black eyes The mouth is extream wide with several very sharp Teeth two of them crooked like a Wild Boars it hath four Fins and a broad forked Tail but has the name of Sea-Devil because above the eyes there are two little sharp black Horns which turn toward his back like a Rams As this Monster is extream ugly the Meat of it which is soft and full of strings is absolute Poyson causing strange Vomitings and Swoonings which prove mortal if not prevented by a good Dose of Mithridate or some other Antidote this dangerous Creature is only desired by the curious to adorn their Closets whereby it happens that this Devil who was never profitable while alive gives a little satisfaction to their Eyes after death The Sea Vnicorn is a Fish no less Miraculous a Prodigious one being cast ashore about these Islands is thus described by an Ingenious occular Witness This Unicorn saith he was pursuing a smaller Fish with such earnestness and impetuosity that it stuck with half the body dry on a Sand-bank and before it could recover the deep was destroyed by the Inhabitants It was about eighteen Foot long and in compass as big as a Barrel having six great Fins like the ends of Galley Oars whereof two were placed near the Gills and the other four at the sides of the Belly at equal distances they were of a Vermillion red Colour All the upper part of the Body was covered with great Scales about the bigness of a Crown peice of a blew Colour intermixt with Spangles of Silver near the Neck the Scales were closer and of a dark Colour like a Collar The Scales under the Belly were yellow the Tail Forked the Head somewhat bigger than that of a Horse and near the same shape The lower part of the Body was covered with an hard dark Skin and as it is said the Land Vnicorn hath one Horn in his Forehead so this Sea Vnicorn had a very fair one issuing out of his Head about nine Foot and an half in length it was very streight and grew smaller to the very point which was sharp enough to peirce Wood Stone or any thing more hard Toward the Head it was sixteen Inches about and from thence almost to the end waved like a wreathed Pillar growing smaller till they gently ended in a point it was naturally polished of a shining black marked with certain small white and yellow strokes and of such solidity that a sharp File could hardly get a little small Powder from it It had no Ears standing up but two spacious Gills as the other Fishes The Eyes are about the bigness of an Hens Egg the Ball which was of a Skie Colour Enameld with yellow was of Vermillion Colour and beyond it another as clear as Chrystal The Mouth was wide â—â—ough with several extream sharp Teeth The Tongue proportionable covered with a rough red Skin Upon the Head was a Crown rising two Inches above the Skin made Oval and ending in a point Above three hundred Persons eat of the Meat of it and thought it exceeding delicate being Inter-larded with white fat and when Boiled came up in Fleaks like fresh Cod but of a more excellent tast Those who saw it alive and broke its back with Leavers affirmed that he made prodigious attempts to thrust them with his Horn using it with much nimbleness and dexterity and if he had not wanted Water would have been too hard for them all within him they found the scales of several Fishes a token that he lived by prey Of all the Sea-Monsters that are good to eat and kept for Provision as Salmon and Cod are in Europe the most esteemed in these Islands is a certain Fish by the French called Lamantine and Manaty It is a Monster that in time grows to that bulk that some of them are eighteen foot in length and seven in bigness the head is like a Cow and from thence termed by some the Sea-Cow with small Eyes and a thick Skin of a dark colour wrinkled and hairy which being dryed serves for a Buckler against the Arrows of the Indians They have no Fins but instead thereof two short feet under their Bellies each of which hath four fingers very weak to support the weight of so heavy a Body nor hath he any other defensive weapons It lives on the grass and Herbage about the Rocks in those Shallow places that have not much above a fathom of Sea-Water The Females are disburthened of their young like Cows and have two Teats wherewith they suckle them they bring forth two at a time who forsake not the old one till they no longer need Milk and can feed on Grass as she does Of all Fish none are so good meat as this two or three will load a great Canow and eat short like a Land creature of a Vermilion colour not cloying or fulsom and mixt with fat which being melted never grows musty It is much more wholsom salted a day or two than fresh Certain small stones found in his head are highly valued for the Stone and Gravel when dissolved to Powder There are often seen rising out of the Sea about these Islands great numbers of Fishes which fly fifteen or twenty foot above Water and neer an hundred paces in Length but no more in regard their Wings are dried by the Sun they are somewhat like Herrings but of a rounder head and broader back their wings like a Bats which begin a little below the head and reach almost to the Tail In their flight they many times strike against the Sails of Ships and fall even in the day time upon the Decks some say they are very good meat the cause of their flying is to avoid danger from greater Fishes but they meet with Enemies in the Air as well as
There are another kind of Becunes by some call Sea Wood-Cocks their beaks being somewhat like a Wood-cocks bill only the upper part is much longer than the lower and it moves both Jaws with like facility Some of them are four foot long and twelve Inches broad neer the head which is somewhat like a Swines with two large eyes extreamly Shining he hath two Fins on the sides and under the Belly a great plume rising higher like a Cocks comb reaching from head to Tail Besides the long solid beak it hath two sorts of Horns hard black and about a foot and an half in length which hang down under his throat and are particular to this kind of fish and these he can easily hide in a hollow place under his Belly which serves them for a Sheath it hath no Scales but a rough black Skin on the back and the meat is eatable Another Fish found neer these Islands is called the Sea Vrchin or Hedghog and well deserves that name it is round as a Ball and full of Sharp prickles for which it is feared some call it the armed Fish they are sent as Presents to the curious to hang in their closets The Sea Parrots are likewise admirable which have beautiful sparkling eyes the Balls cleer as Chrystal inclosed within a circle as green as an Emerald of which colour are the Scales of their backs They have no Teeth but Jaws above and below of a solid bone very strong of the same colour with their Scales and divided into little Compartiments very beautiful to the Eye they live on shel fish and with those hard Jaw-bones they crush as between two Milstones Oysters Muscles and other shell fish to get out the meat They are an excellent kind of Fish to eat and so big that some of them have weighed above Twenty pound The Dorado by some called the Sea Bream by others the Amber-Fish is also common in these patts so called because in the Water the head seems to be of a green gilt and the rest of the Body as yellow as gold It has pleasure in following Ships but is so swift that it is very hard to take being extreamly well furnished for swimming having the forepart of the head sharp the back bristled with prickles reaching to the Tail which is forked two Fins on each side the head and as many under the Belly and the whole body rather broad than big all which give him a strange command of the Water he is as good meat as Trout or Salmon they are caught only with a peice of White Linnen tyed to the Hook This Island likewise abounds in several sorts of Fowls and Birds those of an extraordinary kind are first the Canades which are the most beautiful Birds in the World saith my Author under the belly and Wings it is of a waving Aurora colour the back and one half of the Wings of a very bright Sky colour the tail and greater feathers of the Wings are mixt with a Sparkling Carnation diversifyed with a Sky upon the back it was grass green and shining black which very much added to the Gold and Azure of the other Plumage but the most beautiful part was the head covered with a murrey down chequered with green yellow and a pale blew which reach'd down wavingly to his back the eye-lids were white and the apple of the eye yellow and red like a Ruby set in Gold it had upon the head a tuft or Câ—p of Feathers of a Vermillion Red sparkling like a lighted Coal which was incompassed by o◠〈◊〉 lesser Feathers of a Pearl colour It was aboâ—◠〈◊〉 â—ess of a Pheasant and very kind and familiar withâ—â—â—â—ends but severe to its Enemies This that our Aâ—â—â— saw spoke the Dutch Spanish and Indian Language and in the last he sung Airs as a natural Indian He also imitated the cries of all sorts of Poultry and other creatures about the House he called his Friends by their Names and Sirnames and flew to them when he saw them especially when he was hungry and if they had been long absent exprest his Joy at their return In a word he was a present for a Prince if he could have been brought over the Sea The Flamant is a great and beautiful bird about the bigness of a Wild goose his beak is like a Spoon his Neck and Legs very long so that his Body is three foot from the ground when they are young their feathers are white then murrey and when old of a bright Carnation they are seldom seen but in great Companies their hearing smelling is so perfect that they smell the Huntsmen and fire-arms at a great distance and therefore for fear of surprize they live in open places in the midst of the Fens one of them being always on the Guard while the rest are searching the Waters for a livelihood as soon as he hears the least noise or perceives a man he takes his flight and gives a great cry for a signal to the rest to follow him when the Huntsmen take them they get the wind of them that they may not smell the Powder and covering themselves with an Oxhide creep on their hands and feet till they come to a place whence they may be sure to kill them CHAP VIII A Prospect of the Island of Mevis THe Island of Mevis or Nevis lies in seventeen degrees and nineteen Minutes North of the Line It is not above eighteen Miles round and in the midst there is but one only Mountain which is very high and covered with great Trees up to the very top about which all the Plantations are setled beginning from the Sea-side to the very highest part of it It hath within it divers Springs of Fresh-water whereof some are strong enough to make their way into the Sea one Spring hath the waters so hot and Mineral that from the force of it there are Baths made found very beneficial in several Diseases The English who planted themselves there in 1628. and are still Possessors thereof being now about three or four Thousand Inhabitants drive a very handsome Trade with Sugar Ginger Tobacco and Cotton which they exchange for other conveniencies it is the best governed of any of the Caribee Islands impartial justice being administred and all debauchery and immorality severely punished by a Council of the most Eminent and Ancient Inhabitants There are three Churches erected for the Service of God And for the security of Vessels in the Road there is a Fort wherein are planted several great Guns that command at a great distance which likewise secure their Storehouses into which all the Commodities imported for the use of the Inhabitants are disposed and from thence distributed to those that have occasion for them It is indifferent Fruitful and hath store of Deer and other Game for Hunting Strange Creatures in America There is an Insect in these Islands called a Souldier somewhat like a Snail but have no Shells proper to themselves and
times together and so takes his leave Their Weddings are performed without any Ceremony the Match being first made by mony which being agreed on and given to the woman make a Consummation of the Marrage if we may so call it After which he keeps her during pleasure and upon the least dislike turns her away and takes another It is no offence for their married women to lie with another man provided she acquaint her husband or some of her nearest Relations therewith but if not they account it such a fault as is sometimes punishable by death some write that when an Indian woman finds her self with Child she continues Chaft or untouched by man until her delivery the like she observes in her giving suck a strange Custom which our European Ladys would not well relish An Indian may have two three or more wives if he please but it is not now so much used as before the English came they being inclined to imitate them in things both good and bad Any Maid before she is married lies with whom she please for Mony without the least Scandal or aspersion it being not only customary but lawful They are extream charitable to each other for if any one has to spare he freely imparts it to his Freinds and whatever they get by gaming or otherwise they share one with another leaving commonly the least part to themselves At their Cantica's or Dancing Matches all persons that come are freely entertain'd it being then Festival time their Custom is that all but the Dancers have a short stick wherewith they strike the ground and sing altogether while those that Dance sometimes Act warlike Postures and then come in with faces painted black and Red like Warriors or some all black others all red with streaks of white under their Eyes and so jump and hop about without any Order uttering many expressions of their designed valour In other Dances they only shew what Antick Tricks their Ignorance will lead them to wringing their Bodies and Faces in a strange manner sometimes leaping into the Fire then catching up a Fire-brand and biting off a live coal with many such tricks which more affright than please an Englishman resembling rather a Crew of Infernal Furies than reasonable Creatures when their King or Sachem sits in Council he hath a Company of armed men to Guard his Person great respect being shewed him by the People which chiefly appears by their silence After he has declared the cause of their Convention he demands their Opinions ordering who shall begin first who having delivered his mind tells them he hath done for no man interrupts him though he make never so many long stops and halts till he says he has no more to say The Council having all delivered their Opinions the King after some pause gives the definitive sentence which is commonly seconded with a shout from the People thereby signifying their assent or applause If any Person be condemned to dye which is seldom but for murder or incest the King himself goes out in Person for they have no Prisons and the guilty Person flies into the woods to seek him out and having found him the King shoots first though at never such a distance and then happy is the man that can shoot him down who for his pains is made some Captain or military Officer Their cloathing is a yard and half of broad cloth which they hang on their Shoulders and half a yard of the same being put betwixt their Legs is tyed up before and behind and fastned with a Girdle about their middle hangs with a flap on each side they wear no hats but commonly tye either a Snakes skin about their Heads a belt of their mony or a kind of Ruff made with Deers hair and died of a Scarlet Colour which they esteem very rich They grease their bodies and hair very often and paint their faces with divers Colours as Black White Red Yellow Blew which they take great pride in every one being painted in a several manner Thus much of the Customs of the Indians and the Colony of New York Hudsons River runs by New-York Northward into the Country toward the head of which is seated New-Albany a place of great trade with the Indians betwixt which and New-York being above an hundred Miles distance is as good Corn-Land as the World affords it was reduced to his Majesties Obedience by Colonel Nichols and a League of Friendship concluded between the Inhabitants and the Indians by whom they have never been since disturbed but every man hathsate under his ownvine and hath peaceably reaped and enjoyed the fruits of his own Labours which God continue CHAP VI. A Prospect of New-Jersey with the Scituation Plantation and Product thereof NEw-Jersey is part of the Province of New-Albion aforementioned and is subdivided into East and West Jersey East-Jersey lies between 39 and 41 Degrees of North Latitude being about 12 Degrees more to the South than the City of London It is bounded on the South-East by the main Sea East by that vast Navigable stream called Hudsons River West by a line of Division which separates it from West-Jersey and North upon the Main Land and extends it self in length on the Sea-coasts and along Hudsons River one Hundred English Miles and upward The Proprietors of this Province who in 1682. were William Penn Robert West Thomas Rudyard Samuel Groom Thomas Hart Richard Mew Thomas Wilcox Ambrose Rigg John Heywood Hugh Hartshorn Clement Plumstead and Thomas Cooper have published the following Account for the Information and Incouragement of all Persons who are inclined to settle themselves Families and Servants in that Country which may give sufficient Satisfaction of the Scituation Conveniencies and Product thereof The conveniency of Scituation temperature of Air and fertility of Soyl is such That there are no less than seven considerable Towns viz. Shrewsbury Middletown Burgin Newark Elizabeth Town Woodbridge and Piscataway which are well inhabited by a Sober and Industrious People who have necessary Provisions for themselves and Families and for the comfortable entertainment of Strangers and Travellers And this Colony is experimentally found Generally to agree well with English Constitutions For Navigation it hath these Advantages not only to be Scituate along the Navigable part of Hudsons River but lies also Fifty Miles on the Main Sea And near the midst of this Province is that Noted Bay for Ships within Sandy Hook very well known not to be inferiour to any in America where Ships not only Harbour in greatest Storms but Ride safe with all Winds and Sail in and out thence as well in Winter as Summer For Fishery the Sea Banks there are very well stor'd with variety of Fish not only such as are profitable for Transportation but fit for Food there As Whales Cod-fish Cole and Hake-fish large Mackerill and many other sorts of Flat and small Fish The Bay also and Hudsons River are plentifully stored with Sturgeon Great Basse and other
Tame Cattel they have none except Lice and certain Dogs of a wild breed which they bring up to hunt with Wives they have two or three according to their ability and strength of body the women have the easiest labour of any in the world for when their time is come they go out alone carrying a board with them two foot long and a foot and half broad boared full of holes on each side having a foot beneath and on the top a broad strap of Leather which they put over their forehead the board hanging at their back when they come to a convenient Bush or Tree they lay them down and are delivered in an instant without so much as one groan they wrap the child up in a young Beaver-skin with his heels close to his Buttocks and lace him down to the board upon his back his knees resting upon the foot beneath then putting the strap of Leather upon their forehead with the Infant hanging at their back home they trudg and die the Child with a liquor of boil'd Hemlock bark and then throw him into the â—ater if they suspect it gotten by any other Nation if it will swim they acknowledg it for their own They give them names when they are men grown and love â—â—e English as Robin Harry Philip and the like they are â—ery indulgent to their Children as well as Parents but if â—hey live so long as to be burdensome they either starve â—or bury them alive as it was supposed an Indian did by his mother at Casco in 1669. Their Apparrel before the English came among them was the skins of wild Beasts with the hair on Buskings of Deerskin or Moose drest and drawn with lines into several works the â—ines being coloured with Yellow Blue or Red Pumps too they have made of tough skins without Soles In winter when the snow will bear them they fasten to their feet snow-shooes made like a larg Racket for Tennis play laced on before and behind they wear a square peice of Leather tied about their middle with a string to hide their Secrets and go bareheaded But since they have had to do with the English they buy of them a cloth called trading cloth of which they make Mantles Coats with short sleeves and caps for their heads but the men keep their old Fashion They are very proud as appears by decking themselves with white and blue beads of their own making and painting their faces with colours and sometimes weave curious Coats with Turkies Feathers for their Children Their Diet is fish Fowl Bear Wild Cat Raccoon and Deer dried Oysters Lobsters roasted or dried in the smoak Lampreys and dri'd Moose tongues which they esteem a dish for a Sagamor or Prince likewise Earthnuts Chesnuts and divers Berries they beat their Corn to Powder and put it into bags which they make use of when Stormy weather hinders them of food If they have none of this being careles providers against necessity they use Sir Francis Drakes remedy for hunger to go to sleep They live to an hundred years old if they be not cut off by their own Children War Plague or small Pox when they have any of the two last diseases they cover their wigwams with Barks so close that no Air can enter and making a great Fire remain there in a stewing heat till they are in an extream sweat and then run out naked into the Sea or River and presently after their return they either recover or give up the Ghost They die patiently both men and women not knowing of a Hell to scare them or a Conscience to terrify them they howl at their funerals like the wild Irish blaming the Devil for his hard heartednes and concluding with rude Prayers to him to afflict them no further They acknowledg a God who they called Squantam but worship him not because they say he will do them no hurt but Abbomoâ—ho or Cheepie many times smites them with incurable diseases scares them with apparitions and panick Terrors so that they live in a wretched Consternation worshipping the Devil for fear One black Robin an Indian sitting in a Cornfield neer the House I was in ran about extreamly frighted with the appearance of two Infernal Spirits like Mohawks Another time two Indians and an Indess came crying out they should all die for Cheepei was gone over the Feild gliding in the Air with a long Rope hanging from one of his legs we ask'd them what he was like they said He had Hat Coat Shoos and stockings like an Englishman They have a remarkable observation of a flame that appears before the death of an Indian or English upon their Wigwams in the dead of the night I was called out once about twelve a clock in a very dark night and plainly perceived it mounting into the Air over a Church about half a Quarter of a Mile off toward the North on what side of a House it appears from that Coast you may certainly expect a dead Corps in two or three days As they Worship the Devil their Preists who are called Powaws are little better than Witches who have familiar conference with him he makes them invulnerable and Sâ—otfree They are Crafty Rogues abusing the rest at their pleasure by pretending to cure Diseases with Barbarous Charms for which if â—hey recover they send great Gifts as Bows Arrows â—nd rich Furrs to the Eastward where there is a vast Rock not far from the Shore having a hole in it of an unsearchable depth into which they throw them Their Divinity is not much yet say that after death â—hey go to Heaven beyond the white Mountains and â—int at Noahs Flood by Tradition from their Fathers â—ffirming that a great while ago their Country was drowned and all the People and other Creatures in â—t only one Powaw and his Webb or Wife foreseeing â—he Flood fled to the white Mountains carrying a Hare with them and so escaped after a while the Powaw sent the Hare away who not returning imboldened thereby they descended and lived many years after having divers Children from whom the Country was again filled with Indians some of them tell another Story saying the Bever was their Father Their Learning is very little or none Poets they may be guessed by their formal Speeches sometimes an hour long Musical too they be having many pretty od Barbarous Tunes which they sing at Marriages and Feastings Their Exercises are Fishing and Hunting they sometimes Hunt forty or fifty Mile up in the Countrey especially when they happen upon a Moose or Elk which is a Creature or rather if you will a Monster of Superfluity being in his full growth many times bigger than an English Ox the Horns are very big brancht out into many Palms and the tips thereof are sometimes twelve Foot asunder and in height from the Toe of the Fore-foot to the pitch of the Shoulder twelve Foot they are accounted a kind of Deer and have three young ones at a time
his Neck This Idol is the keeper of the dead bodies of their Kings which are advanced on Scaffolds nine or ten foot high this Kiwasa or Guardian being placed neer them and underneath lives a Priest who there mumbleth his Devotions Night and Day The Countrey is generally plain and even the soyl rich and Fertile naturally producing all such Commodities as are found in New-England as to Fish Fruits Plants Roots c. The chief Trade of the English there is Tobacco which is not inconsiderable since an hundred sail of Ships have in one year traded thither from England and the neighbouring English Plantations It is divided into ten Counties in each of which a Court is held every two months for little Matters with Appeal to the Provincial Court at St. Maries which is the principal Town seated on St. Georges River and beautified with several well built Houses This Province is granted by Parent to the Right Honourable the Lord Baltimore and to his Heirs and Assigns with many Civil and Military-Prerogatives and Jurisdictions as conferring Honours Coyning money c. paying yearly as an acknowledgment to his Majesty and his Successors two Indian Arrows at Windsor Castle upon â—aster Tuesday The Lord Baltimore hath his residence at Mattapany about eight miles distant from St. Maries where he hath a pleasant seat though the General Assemblies and provincial Courts are kept at St. Maries And for incouraging People to settle here his Lordship by advice of the General Assembly hath long since established a Model of excellent Laws for the ease and security of the Inhabitants with Toleration of Religion to all that profess Faith in Christ which hath been a principal Motive to many to settle there CHAP. IX A Prospect of Virginia with the Discovery Plantation and Product thereof THis Countrey with the other adjoining Coasts was first discovered by Sebastian Cabot with his English Mariners in 1497. And may therefore be justly claimed by England it was afterward visited by Sir Francis Drake and called Virginia by Sir Walter Rawleigh in honour of his Virgin Mistress Queen Elizabeth In 1603. some Persons at Bristow by leave from Sir Walter Rawleigh who had the Propriety thereof made a Voyage thither who discovered Whitson-Bay in forty one Degrees the People used Snakeskins of six Foot long for Girdles and were exceedingly ravished with the Musick of a Gittern Boy dancing in a ring about him they were more afraid of two English Mastives than of twenty Men In 1607. Sir John Popham and others setled a Plantation at the mouth of the River Sagahadoc the Captain James Davis chose a small place almost an Island to set down in where having heard a Sermon read their Patent and Laws and Built a Fort they Sailed to discover further up the River and Countrey and encountred with an Island where was a great Fall of Water over which they haled their Boat with a Rope and came to another Fall shallow swift and unpassable they found the Countrey stored with white and red Grapes good Hops Onions Garlick Oaks Walnuts and the Soil good the Head of the River being in about forty five Degrees they called their Fort St. George Captain George Popham being President the People seemed much affected with our Mens Devotions and would say King James is a good King and his God a good God but our God Tanto a naughty God which is the name of the evil Spirit that haunts them every new Moon and makes them Worship him for fear he commanded the Indians not to converse nor come near the English threatning some to kill them and to inflict Sickness upon others if they disobeyed him beginning with two of their Sagaâ—nors or Kings Children affirming he had power to do the like against the English and would execute it on them the next new Moon The Natives told our Men of Cannibals near Sagadohoc with Teeth three Inches long but they saw them not In January they had in the space of seven hours Thunder Lightning Rain Frost and Snow all in abundance they found a Bath two Miles about so hot they could not drink of it One of the Savages for a Straw-hat and Knife stript himself of his Clothing of Bevers Skins worth in England 50 s or 3 l. to Present them to the President leaving only a Flap to cover his Nudities About this time Captain Gosnold set Sail for Virginia and arrived there after long contending with furious Storms and Tempests and soon after by the Industry of Captain Smith James-Town was Built the Savages supplying their necessities which were sometimes very extream the Winter approaching the Rivers afforded them plenty of Cranes Swans Geese Ducks wherewith they had Pease and Wild Beasts as Bevers Otters Martins and black Foxes upon which they daily Feasted but in the discovery of Chickahamine River George Casson was surprized and Smith with two others beset with two hundred Savages his Men Slain and himself in a Quagmire taken Prisoner but after a Month he procured not only his Liberty but was in great esteem among them being extreamly pleased with his Discourses of God Nature and Art and had Royal Entertainment from Powhatan one of their Emperours who sat in State upon his Bed of Matts his Pillow of Leather imbroidered with Pearl and white Beads attired with a Robe of Skins as large as an Irish Mantle at his Head sat a handsom young Woman and another at his Feet and on each side the Room twenty others their Heads and Shoulders painted red with a great Chain of white Beads about their Necks and a Robe of Skins large like an Irish Mantle before these sat his chiefest Men in their Orders in this Palace or Arbour one Newport who accompanied Captain Smith gave the Emperour a Boy in requital whereof Powhatan bestowed upon him Namontack his Servant who was after brought into England yet after this Powhatan treacherously contrived the Murther of sixteen of our Men which was happily prevented by Captain Smith who seized another of their Kings and thereby procured Peace from them on his own Terms This Powhatan had about thirty Kings under him his Treasure consisted of Skins Copper Pearls Beads and the like kept in a house on purpose against the time of his Burial this House was fifty or sixty Yards long frequented only by Priests at the four Corners stood four Images as Centinels one of a Bear another a Dragon a third a Leopard and the fourth a Giant he hath as many Women as he please whom when he is weary of he bestows upon his Favourites his Will and the Customs of the Countrey are his Laws Malefactors are punished by broiling to death incompassed with Fire and divers other Tortures Mr. White relates that about ten Mile from James-Town one of their Kings made a Feast in the Woods the People were monstrously painted some like black Devils with Horns and their Hair loose of divers Colours they continued two days dancing in a circle of a Quarter
being touched the branches and leaveâ— start up making a great noise and close together intâ— the Figure of a Globe There are very few venemous Creatures in the Caribees though there be many Snakes and Serpents oâ— several colours and Figures some nine or ten fooâ— long and as big as a mans Arm or Thigh nay one waâ— killed which had in her belly a whole Hen feathers anâ— all above a dozen Eggs being seized as she was sitting Another snake had devoured a Car whence â— guess may be given of their bignes Notwithstandinâ— which they are not poysonous but do the Inhabitants â— Curtesy in freeing their Houses from Rats which they devour Other Serpents are very delightful to the Eye being green all over about an ell and half long not above an inch about feeding on Frogs in Brooks and birds upon Trees These dangerous snakes are oâ— two kinds some grey on the back and feel like velvet others Yellow or red dreadful to look on their heads are flat and broad and their jaws extreamly wide and armed with eight or ten teeth extraordinary sharp and hollow within from whence they disperse their Poyson which lies in little Purses just at the roots of their Teeth they never chew any thing but swallow it down whole after they have crushed and made it flat some say if they chewed there food they would poyson themselves to prevent which they cover their Teeth with their Gums when they take their nourishment these Creatures are so venemous that when they sting any if present help be not had the wound in two hours is incurable their only commendation is that they never hurt any who do not either touch them or something whereon they repose CHAP. XIII A Prospect of the Island of Anguilla ANguilla sometimes called Snake Island from its Shape is a long Tract of Land of about Thirty mile and nine mile broad winding almost about neer St. Martins Island whence it is very plainly perceived There is not any Mountain in it the ground lying low and even Where it is broadest there is a Pond about which some English have setled themselves in number two or three hundred and where they plant Tobacco which is highly esteemed by those who are good Judges in that Commodity The Island lyes in Eighteen Degrees and Twenty Minutes on this side the Equinoctial Before the discovery of America there were not to be found in these parts any Horses Kine Oxen Sheep Goats Swine or Dogs but for the better conveniency of their Navigations and supply of their Ships in case of necessity they left some of these Creatures in several parts of this New-found World where they have since multiplyed so exceedingly that now they are more common as well on the Continent as the Caribees than in any part of Europe But beside these Foreign kinds of Cattle there were before in these Islands certain sorts of strange fourfooted Beasts as the Opassum about the bigness of a Cat with a Sharp Snout the neither Jaw being shorter than the upper like a Pigs it hath very sharp Claws and climbs Trees easily feeding upon Birds and in want thereof upon fruit it is Remarkable for a purse or bag of its own Skin folded together under its belly wherein it carries its young which it lays upon the ground at pleasure by opening that natural purse when he would leave that place he opens it again and the young ones get in and so he carries them with him wherever he goes The female suckles them without setting them on the ground for her Teats lye within that Purse which is much softer within that without The Female commonly brings six young ones but the Male who hath such another natural Purse under his Belly carries them in his turn to ease the Female Strange Creatures in America But of all the Caymaa Crocodile or Allegator is very remarkable it keeps neer the Sea and in Rivers and Islands uninhabited and sometimes among the Reeds on Land very hideous to look on It is thought to live very long and grows bigger to the very last day even to eighteen foot long and as big about as an Hogshead it hath four feet well armed with crooked Claws The skin which is covered all over with scales is so hard on the back that a Bullet from a Musket shot at him shall hardly make any Impression on it but if be hurt under the belly or in the eyes he is soon gone his lower Jaw is immoveable but hath so wide a mouth and so well set with sharp Teeth that he makes nothing to cut a man in two He runs fast enough on the Land but the weight of his body makes as deep a Track in the sand as a Coach-horse and having no joints in the backbone he goes streight forward not being able to turn his vast body without much difficulty so that to avoid him one need only turn aside several times Those that are bred in the fresh-water smell of Musk while they are alive and the Air is perfumed an hundred paces about them nay the water retains somewhat of the smell which is inclosed in certain Glandules under his Thighs and being taken thence retain their scent long It may be Providence hath bestowed it upon them that men and other Creatures may avoid being made a Prey to these cruel Monsters Those that live in the Sea have no such smell but both kinds are very dangerous to those that swim They have a cunning slight for seizing Oxen and Cows for one of them will lye lurking at the places where they come to Water and finding one at his advantage he half shuts his eyes and floats on the top of the Water like a peice of rotten wood and getting still nearer to the poor Beast which is drinking and unaware of him he immediately fastens on him by the lips forcing him under Water drowning and then eating him He likewise takes men by the same sleight for Vincent Le Blanc relates that the Servant of a Consul of Alexandria going to take up one of these cruel Creatures thinking it had been a peice of wood was drawn by it to the bottom of the River and never seen more There are abundance of these Monstrous Crocodiles in these Islands who come in great numbers in the night to the places where the Tortoises are killed of which hereafter to feed on the entrails and carcass of them that are left by Fishermen who are obliged to carry great wooden Leavers with them to keep off these Crocodiles and oftimes kill them by first breaking their back therewith Several parts of this Ravenous Monster are accounted good for many Diseases the wise Author of Nature having provided some advant ges from those Creatures which are otherwise most pernicious CHAP. XIV A Prospect of the Island of Montserrat THe Island of Montserrat received that Title of the Spaniards from the resemblance of a Mountain therein to that of Montserrat neer Barcelona in Spain
Water for certain Sea-Fowl which live only by Prey have open hostility with them and seize them as they fly The Sword-Fish is worth observing as well as the Flying-Fish it hath at the end of the upper Jaw a defensive weapon about the bredth of a great broad Sword which hath Sharp hard teeth on both sides some of these Swords are five foot long and six inches broad at the lower end with twenty seaven white solid teeth in each rank and the bulk of their Bodies bears a proportion thereto The head of this Monster is flat and hideous to behold being in the Shape of an Heart neer their Eyes they have two Vents at which they cast out the Water which they have swallowed They have no Scales but a greyish Skin on their back and white under the belly which is rough like a file They have seaven Fins two of each side two on the back and and one which serves them for a Tail some call them Saw-fishes and some Emperors because there is always open War between them and the Whale which is many times wounded to death by this their dreadful weapon CHAP. XV. A Prospect of the Island of Dominica THe Island of Dominica lyes in the Latitude of fifteen degrees and thirty Minutes judged to be in length about thirteen Leagues or forty Mile and not much less in breadth where it is greatest On the West-side of the Isle is a very convenient Harbour for Ships It is very Mountainous in the midst which incompasses an inaccessible bottom where from the tops of certain Rocks may be seen an infinite number of Vipers Dragons and other dreadful venemous Creatures whom none dares approach unto Yet there are many fruitful valleys producing several commodities but especiably Tobacco which is planted by the English but the Natives who are Cannibals and very barbarous do much hinder the coming of the English to settle there For the Caribeans are very numerous in it and have a long time entertained those who came to visit them with a story of a vast and monstrous Serpent which had its aboad in that bottom affirming that there was on the head of it a very sparkling stone like a Carbuncle of inestimable price and that it commonly covered this Rich Jewel with a thin moving Skin like that of a mans Eye-lid but that when it went to drink or sported it self within the midst of that deep bottom he fully discovered it and that the Rocks all about received a a wonderful lustre from the Fire issuing out of that precious Crown The Supream Person of this Island was heretofore one of the most considerable among those of the same Nation for when all their forces marched out against the Arovagues their Common Enemies of the Continent he had still the conduct of the Van-guard and was known by a particular Mark which he had about him When any French ships come neer this Island there are immediately seen several Canows in each of which there are are three or four Indians at the most who come to direct them to the Havens where they may safely Anchor They commonly bring along with them some of the Countrey fruits whereof having presented the Captains and other Officers with the choicest they offer the rest in exchange for Fishing hooks graines of Chrystal and such trifles as they Account precious They have had some differences with the English upon the account of damage received from some particular Persons which though our nation hath protested against yet their reveng is so implacable that they hardly ever forgive nor pass by any injuries And upon this Account next the Arovages on the Continent of America the greatest enemies the Caeibbeans have are the English which enmity took his rise from hence that some ill principled Englishmen under the Flags of other Nations having by pretended kindness and little gifts and Aqua Vitae which they dearly love got divers of the Carribbeans aboard their Ships when they saw their Vessel ful of these poor people who never dreamt of such Treachery carried away men Women and Children into their Plantations were they are still kept slaves Hence it happens they bear such a grudg to the English as hardly to endure to hear their Language and if a Frenchman or some other Nation in Friendship with them chance to use any English expression he runs the hazard of their Enmity In revenge hereof they oft make Incursions into Montserrat Antego and other English Settlements firing their Houses and carrying a way Goods Men Women and Children with them but do not eat them as they do the Arovagues They do not love to be called Cannibals though they eat the Flesh of their Enemies which they say they do to satisfy their Indignation and revenge and not out of any delicacy they find in it more than in any thing else which they eat In other things they are of a good tractable disposition and so great enemies to severity that if the European or other Nations who have any of them slaves treat them with rigour they dye out of pure grief They commonly reproach the Europeans with their Avarice and immoderate industry in getting wealth for themselves and Children since the Earth is able to find sufficient sustenance for all men if they will take pains to cultivate it As for themselves they say they are not perplexed with care for those things wherewith their lives are preserved and it is apparent they are much fatter and healthier than those that fare deliciously They live without Ambition without vexation without disquiet having no desire of acquiring Honours or Wealth slighting Gold and Silver and seeming astonished to see us so much esteem them considering we are so well furnished with Glass or Chrystall which they think more beautiful and valuable When they go a hunting Fishing or root up Trees for ground to make a little Garden or to build Houses which are innocent Imployments and sutable to the nature of man they do all without eagerness and as it were in a way of divertisement and Recreation When they see the Christians sad or perplext at any thing They give them this Gentle Reprehension Compeer a Familiar word they learn of the French signifying Friend or Gossip how miserable art thou thus to expose thy Person to such tedious and dangerous Voyages and to suffer thy self to be orepressed with cares The inornate desire of getting wealth puts thee to all this trouble and all these inconveniences and yet thou art no less disquieted for the goods thou hast already gotten than for those thou art desirous to get Thou art in continual fear lest some body should rob thee either in thy own Countrey or upon the Seas or that thy Goods should be lost by shipwrack or the Waters thus thou growest O d in a short time thy hair turns grey thâ— forehead is wrinckled a thousand inconveniencies attend thy Body a thousand afflictions surround thy heart and thou makest all the hast