Darien where Sir Francis Drake formerly fell acquainted with the Symerons who put him upon surprizing the Treasure at Panama a Place and People which Captain Oxenham very well knew and intended now to make use of Nor was it long ere he met with some of them who inform him that the Mules now travel with a strong Guard of Souldiers which was somewhat contrary to his expectation and quite altered his design However being resolved to act some great thing it did not much disanimate him and therefore finding little hopes of success here they resolve to try their Fortunes on the South Sea To this purpose the Captain brings his own Ship on ground and covers her with boughs and rubbish as well as he could and burying his great Guns in the Earth he with his Company and 6 Negro's to conduct them march by land toward the Coast of Panama and Peru. Having gone about 14 Leagues they came to a River which the Symerons told them ran directly into the South Sea Here they cut down wood and built themselves a Pinnace about 45 foot long wherein they put to Sea making toward the Island of Pearls 25 Leagues South of Panama hoping some Ships from Peru or other places from the South would be sailing that way for Panama So that though Sir Francis Drake hath deservedly the honour of first discovering the South Sea to the English by the open and known way of the Streights yet Captain Oxenham was the first Englishman that ever sailed upon it with command He had not waited long but there came a Bark from Quito a Province of Peru laden with Goods and sixty Thousand Pezo's of fine Gold which he took and within six days after another from Lima wherein were no less than two hundred Thousand Pezo's of Silver in Bars the value of a Pezo both in Gold and Silver you have in Sir Tho. Cavendishes Voyage according to which account this Prize amounted to nine hundred and sixty Thousand Pound Sâ—erling in Gold and fourscore Thousand Pound in Silver which being enough to satisfy reasonable Men they retire with their Pinnâ—ce up the River intending to make all speed to their Ship but unhappily by the Covetousness and Dissention of some of the Company so much time was spent about sharing their Booty that the Spaniards at Panama had notice of it whereupon Ships were presently dispatcht to pursue them at Sea and Souldiers to intercept them at Land The Captain himself through the obstinacy and wilfulness of some of the Company was forced to leave the Treasure with them and Travel some Leagues up into the Country to find Negro's that might help him to carry it his own Men refusing to do it but quarrelling with him for larger pay In the mean time the Spanish Ships came to the mouth of the River and by the Feathers of certain Hens which the English had taken and pluckt there they judged them to be gone up the River and putting in after them soon overtook them and their Prize together The Captain was absent but either the Negro's or some of the English having discovered that their Ship lay in the Sound neither he nor any of the rest escaped but were all in a short time met with by the Spaniards and having no Commission to shew he going only upon his own Account every Man of them were Executed save two Boys Thus ended the stout and resolute Captain Oxenham the Justice of whose Cause saith my Author I will not dispute with his Adversaries but could wish it had been as perfectly just in all respects as it was gallant and bravely managed on the Captains part insomuch that his very Enemies who put him to death do yet admire and extol it miscarrying only through Passion Covetousness and Self-will of some of his Company whose Lives paid for their folly XII That Valiant and Learned Knight Sir Walter Rawleigh having Intelligence of the Rich and Mighty Empire of Guiana in America which is bounded on the North with Orenoque River and the Sea on the East and South with the River of Amazones and on the West with the Mountains of Peru In March 1595. he set forth for discovery thereof and landed at Curiapan in Trinidado taking the City of St. Joseph and therein Antony Berreo the Spanish Governour leaving his Ships he went with an hundred Men in Boats and a little Galley with Indian Pilots into the famous River of Orenoque which runs from Quito in Peru on the West and hath nine Branches on the North side and seven on the South the Inhabitants on the Northern Branches are the Tivitivas a Valiant Nation and of the most manly and deliberate Speech that I have heard saith Sir Walter In Summer they Build Houses on the Ground in Winter upon Trees where they Build very Artificial Towns and Villages for between May and September the River rises thirty Foot upright and then are these Islands which the River makes overflown twenty five Foot high except in some raised Grounds the Natives never eat any thing that is set or sown using the tops of Palmettos for Bread and killing Deer Fish and Pork for Meat those that dwell on some other Branches are chiefly imployed in making Canoos which they sell into Guiana for Gold and to Trinidado for Tobacco in taking of which they exceed all Nations when their King dies they use great lamentation and when they think the flesh is putrified and fallen from the Bones they take up the Carcass again and hang it up in his House decking his Skull with Feathers of all Colours and hanging Plates of Gold about his Arms Thighs and Legs those who dwell on the South beat the Bones of their King to Powder which their Wives and Friends Drink As they passed along these Streams they were entertained with several curious Divertisements the Deer feeding by the Water-side the Birds of variety of colours and notes singing the Fields embroidered with Plants and Flowers the Fishes and Fowls of all kinds playing in the River only the Crocodile who preys both on the Land and Water had almost spoiled the Comedy by turning it into a Tragedy feasting himself with a Negro of their company before their Eyes Passing hence to Cumana 120 Leagues North they came to a People as black as Negro's but with smooth Hair whose Arrows are so mortally poisoned that they kill with unspeakable Torments especially if men drink after they are wounded At the Port of Morequito they anchored and the King who was an hundred and ten years old came fourteen miles on foot to see them returning the same day they brought them Fruits great store a sort of Pariquetro's no bigger than Wrens An Armadilla which seemed covered all over with small Plates somewhat like a Rhinoceros with a white Horn growing in his hinder parts which they use to wind instead of a Trumpet and the Snout of a Pig this Beast they afterward eat They passed forward till they came in sight of
themselves reasonably loaden and that their Ships had endured the Sea a long time they resolve to return for England by the Moluccae and Philippine Islands Sailing in this South Sea to forty degrees of Northerly Latitude where he landed and named it Nova Albion The Inhabitants presented him Feathers and Kalls of Network which he requited with other things the men went naked the Women had loose Garments of Bulrushes tyed about their middles They came a second time and brought Feathers and bags of Tobacco and after a long oration by one that was Speaker for the rest they left their bows on an Hill and came down to our men the women in the mean time remaining on the Hill tormented themselves tearing their flesh from their cheeks whereby it appeared they were about some sacrifice the news being further spread brought the King thither who was a very proper man and had the like to attend him two Ambassadours with a Speech of half an hour long gave an account of his intended coming when he appeared one went before him with a Scepter or Mace whereon there hung two Crowns with 3 Chains the Crowns were of knitwork wrought artificially with feathers of divers colours the chains made of bone The King was clothed in Cony-skins his Followers had their faces painted with white black and other colours every one even the Children bringing their Presents He that carried the Scepter made a loud Speech of half an hour repeating it from another who whispered to him which being ended with a Solemn applause they all came orderly down the Hill without their weapons the Scepter-bearer beginning a Song and dance and all the rest following him The King and several others made many Orations or Supplications to Drake that he would be their King and the King with a Song set the Crown on his head and put the Chains about his neck honouring him by the name of Hioh The Common sort leaving the King and his Guard mingled themselves among the English viewing them severely and offering theiâ— Sacrifices to those they best liked which were commonly the youngest weeping and rending their flesh with much effusion of bloud Our men misliked their Devotions and directed them to worship the Living God Every third day they brought their Sacrificeâ— till they found them displeasing yet at the departure of the English they very much grieved and secretly provided a Sacrifice They found Herds of Deer feeding by thousands and strange Conies with heads like ours feet like a Mole and the tail of a Cat having under their chains a bag lnto which they put their meat when their Bellies are full Sailing from hence they went back by the Cape of Good Hope And Nov. 3. 1580. which was the third year of their Voyage they safely arrived at Plymouth In 1585. This Gallant Seaman having been Knighted and much Honoured by Queen Elizabeth made another Voyage to America with a greater number of Ships in which besides other places of note he took and burnt a good part of St. Domingo in Hispaniola forcing the Inhabitants to redeem the other part with twenty five Thousand Duckets in Money he took also Carâ—hagena a Town upon the Continent and in it Alonso Bravo the Governour and after burning some Houses had eleven Thousand Duckets paid him by the Inhabitants to spare the rest he took likewise the Towns of St. Anthâ—ny and St. Helena but at last the English in the Ships falling Sick of the Calenture and many dying he was forced to return for England with what he had already got which was valued at threescore Thousand Pound Sterling of cleer Prize besides two hundred Pieces of Brass Ordnance and Forty of Iron In 1595. Sir Francis Drake made his last Voyage which proved not altogether so successful to him as the former by reason as was thought of some misunderstanding between him and Sir John Hawkins who was the other General joined in Commission with him for the Expedition they both died in this Voyage Sir John Hawkins first as soon as ever the Ship came in sight of Porto Rico after which Drake being Sole General made an attempt upon that place but could only Fire some Ships in the Haven receiving some loss himself yet he proceeded and took Rio de la Hacha Raucheria at that time a Wealthy Town by the Trade of Pearl Fishing and lastly Nombre de dios but found nothing so much Treasure now as he saw the first time from hence marching by Land he designed to surprize Panama but Sir Thomas Baskervile who commanded a party of seven hundred and fifty Souldiers for that purpose found the Passages over the Mountains so difficult and the passes so well guarded that he was forced to retreat not without loss of Men whom the Spaniards being acquainted with the Countrey and lying in the woods through which they were to pass killed in their return Hereupon they were forced to put to Sea again and not long after Sir Francis Drake himself fell sick and partly of a Flux and grief for his ill success having hitherto been acquainted with nothing but good Fortune and Victory he died within few days before Porto bello and the Fleet under Sir Tho. Baskervile return'd to England IX Another renowned worthy among the English Adventurers of America and especially for a prosperous and compleat circumnavigation of the Ocean was Sir Thomas Cavendish of Trimley in Suffolk who in July 1586 with three Ships and 120 Men set out from Plymouth for the West Indies and Aug. 25 following fell with the Point of Sierra Liona on the Coast of Guiny and from thence Sept 7 with the Isle of Madrabamba about Cape Verde a place very convenient for taking in fresh water and other necessaries for men at Sea but otherwise much subject to sudden claps of Thunder Lightning and storms especially in winter Their design was for the Streights of Magellan and the South sea therefore steering directly South by the latter end of October they dicover Cape Frio on the Coasts of Brasil and put in at an Harbour between the Isle of St Sebastian and the Continent where they stayed some time building a New Pinnace and supplying their Ships with necessaries Then sailing toward the Streights Jan. 6. they came to an Anchor at the Streights mouth not far from the place where the Spaniards intended a Town and Fort for commanding the Streights and securing the Passage into the South-Sea against all Nations but themselves But as it appeared that project took no effect for of 400 Men left there three Years before by Don Pedro Sarmiento to that purpose by order of the King of Spain there were scarce 20 remaining alive when Sir Tho Cavâ—ndish sailed that way the rest were either starved for want of necessary Provisions or destroyed by the Natives They had begun their Town which they named St. Philip upon the narrowest Passage of the Streights about half a mile broad in a place very convenient for their
degrees of North Latitude His Travels were siâ— much perfected by the Industry and Voyages of Câ—tain Gosnold Captain Hudson Captain Smith and otheâ— the last of whom gives a very large account of the woâ—ship and Ceremonies of the Indians This Captain wâ— taken Prisoner by the Natives and whiile he stayed among them observed their Magical Rites Three â— four days after his being seized seven of their Prieâ— in the House where he lay each with a Rattle maâ—ing him sit down by them began about 10 in thâ— morning to sing about a Fire which they incompassâ— with a circle of Meal at the end of every Song whiâ—â— the chief Priest begun the rest following in order they layd down 2 or 3 grains of wheat Then â— Priest disguised with a great Skin his head hung round with little Skins of Weasels and other Vermine and a Coronet of Feathers painted as ugly as the Devil at the end of every song he used strange and vehement gestures throwing great Cakes of Deer suet and Tobacco into the Fire thus these howling Devotions continued till 6 a clock at night and held so 3 days This they pretended was to know of their God whether any more English should arrive and what they intended to do in that Countrey They fed Captain Smith so high that he much doubted they would have sacrificed him to their chief Deity the Image of whom is so deformed that nothing can be more monstrous the Women likewise after he was freed and President of the Company made him a very odd entertainment Thirty of them came out of the Woods only covered before and behind with a few green leaves their bodies painted of different colours the Commander of these Nymphs had on her head a large pair of Staggs Horns and a Quiver of Arrows at her back with Bow and Arrows in her hand The rest followed with Horns and Weapons all alike they rushed through the Trees with hellish shouts and cryes dancing about a Fire which was there made to that purpose for an hour together Then they solemnly invited him to their Lodging where he was no sooner come but they all surrounded him declaring great kindness to him and crying Love you not me after which they feasted him with great variety cook'd after their mad fashion some singing and dancing all the while and at last lighted him home with a Firebrand instead of a Torch to his Lodgings When they design to make War they first consult with their Priests and Conjurers no People being so barbarous almost but they have their Gods Priests and Religion they adore as it were all things that they think may unavoidably hurt them as Fire Water Lightning Thunder our great Guns Muskets and Horses yea some of them once seeing an English Boar were struck with much terror because he bristled up his Hair and gnashed his Teeth believing him to be the God of the Swine who was offended with them The chief God they worship is the Devil which they call Okee they have conference with him and fashion themselves into his shape in their Temples they have his Image il favouredly carved painted adorned with Chains Copper and Beads and covered with a Skin theâ— Sepulchre of their Kings is commonly neer him whose bodies are first Imbowelled dried on a hurdle adorned with Chains and Beads and then wrapped in white Skins over which are Matts they are afterward intombed orderly in Arches made of Matts their wealth being placed at their Feet for their ordinary burials they dig a deep hole in the Earth with sharp Stakes and the Corps being wrapped in Skins and Matts they lay them upon Sticks in the ground and cover them with Earth The Burial ended the Women having their Faces painted black with Cole and Oil sit mourning in the Houses twenty four hours together yelling and howling by turns The People are clothed with loose Mantles made of Deer skins and Aprons of the same round their middles all else naked of stature like to us in England they paint themselves and their Children and he is most gallant who is most deformed the Women imbroider their Legs Hands and other parts with divers works as of Serpents and the like making black Spots in their Flesh Their Houses are made of small Poles round and fastned at the top in a circle like our Arbours covered with Matts twice as long as broad they are exact Archers and with their Arrows will kill Birds flying or Beasts running full speed one of our Men was with an Arrow shot through the Body and both the Arms at once another Indian shot an Arrow of an Ell long through a Target that a Pistol Bullet could not pierce their Bows are of tough Hazel and their strings of Leather their Arrows of Cane or Hazel headed with Stones or Horn and Feathered artificially they soon grow heartless if they find their Arrows do no Execution they speak of Men among them of above two hundred years of Age. Though the Planting of this Country by the English was designed by divers yet it lay much neglected till a small Company of Planters under the Command of Captain George Popham and Captain Gilbert were sent over at the charge of Sir John Popham in 1606 to begin a Colony upon a tract of Land about Saga de hoch the most Northerly part of New-England but that design within two years expiring with its first Founder soon after some Honourable Persons of the West of England commonly called the Council of Plymouth being more certainly informed of several Navigable Rivers and commodious Havens with other places fit either for Traffick or Planting newly discovered by many skilful Navigators obtained of King James the First a Patent under the Great Seal of all that part of North-America called New-England from Forty to Forty eight Degrees of North Latitude This vast Tract of Land was in 1612. cantoned and divided by Grants into many lesser parcels according as Adventurers presented which Grants being founded upon uncertain and false Descriptions and Reports of some that Travelled thither did much interfere one upon another to the great disturbance of the first Planters so that little Profit was reaped from thence nor was any greater Improvement made of those Grand Portions of Land save the erecting some few Cottages for Fishermen and a few inconsiderable Buildings for the Planters yea for want of good conduct they were by degrees in a manner quite destitute of Laws and Government and left to shift for themselves This was the beginning of New-England when in the year 1610. One Mr. Robinson a Presbyterian or rather Independent Preacher and several other English then at Leyden in Holland though they had been courteously entertained by the Dutch as Strangers yet foreseeing many inconveniences might happen and that they could not so well provide for the good of their Posterity under the Government of a Foreign Nation they resolved to intreat so much favour from their own Sovereign Prince
Woods and Rivers are their Larder If an European comes to see them or calls for Lodging at their House or Wigwam they give him the best place and first cut If they come to visit us they salute us with an It ah which is as much as to say Good be to you and set them down which is mostly on the Ground close to their Heels their Legs upright may be they speak not a word more but observe all Passages If you give them any thing to eat or drink well for they will not ask and be it little or much if it be with Kindness they are well pleased else they go away sullen but say nothing They are great Concealers of their own Resentments brought to it I believe by the Revenge that hath been practised among them in either of these they are not exceeded by the Italians A Tragical Instance fell out since I came into the Country A King's Daughter thinking her self slighted by her Husband in suffering another Woman to lie down between them rose up went out pluck't a Root out of â—he Ground and ate it upon which she immediately dyed and for which last Week he made an Offering to her Kindred for Atonement and liberty of Marriage as two others did to the Kindred of their Wives that dyed a natural Death For till Widowers have done so they must not marry again Some of the young Women are said to take undue liberty before Marriage for a Portion but when marryed chaste when with Child they know their Husbands no more till delivered and during their Month they touch no Meat they eat but with a Stick lest they should defile it nor do their Husbands frequent them till that time be expired But in Liberality they excell nothing is too good for their friend give them a fine Gun Coat or other thing it may pass twenty hands before it sticks light of Heart strong Affections but soon spent the most merry Creatures that live Feast and Dance perpetually they never have much nor want much Wealth circulateth like the Blood all parts partake and though none shall want what another hath yet exact Observers of Property Some Kings have sold others presented me with several parcels of Land the Pay or Presents I made them were not hoarded by the particular Owners but the neighbouring Kings and their Clans being present when the Goods were brought out the Parties chiefly concerned consulted what and to whom they should give them To every King then by the hands of a Person for that work appointed is a proportion sent so sorted and folded and with that Gravity that is admirable Then that King sub-divideth it in like manner among his Dependants they hardly leaving themselves an Equal share with one of their Subjects and be it on such occasions at Festivals or at their common Meals the Kings distribute and to themselves last They care for little because they want but little and the Reason is a little contents them In this they are sufficiently revenged on us if they are ignorant of our Pleasures they are also free from our Pains They are not disquieted with Bills of Lading and Exchange nor perplexed with Chancery-Suits and Exchequer-Reckonings We sweat and toil to live their pleasure feeds them I mean their Hunting Fishing and Fowling and this Table is spread every where they eat twice a day Morning and Evening their Seats and Table are the Ground Since the Europeans came into these parts they are grown great lovers of Strong Liquors Rum especially and for it exchange the richest of their Skins and Furs If they are heated with Liquors they are restless till they have enough to sleep that is their cry some more and I will go to sleep but when Drunk one of the most wretchedst Spectacles in the World In Sickness impatient to be cured and for it give any thing especially for their Children to whom they are extreamly natural they drink at those times a Teran or Decoction of some Roots in spring Water and if they eat any Flesh it must be of the Female of any Creature If they dye they bury them with their Apparel be they Men or Women and the nearest of Kin fling in something precious with them as a token of their Love Their Mourning is blacking of their Faces which they continue for a year They are choice of the Graves of their Dead for lest they should be lost by time and fall to common use they pick off the Grass that grows upon them and heap up the fallen Earth with great care and exactness These poor People are under a dark Night in things relating to Religion to be sure the Tradition of it yet they believe a God and Immortality without the help of Metaphysicks for they say There is a great King that made them who dwells in a glorious Countrey to the Southward of them and that the Souls of the good shall go thither where they shall live again Their Worship consists of two parts Sacrifice and Cantico Their Sacrifice is their first Fruits the first and fattest Buck they kill goeth to the fire where he is all burnt with a Mournful Ditty of him that performeth the Ceremony but with such marvellous Fervency and Labour of Body that he will even sweat to a foam The other part is their Cantico performed by round Dances sometimes words sometimes Songs then Shouts two being in the middle that begin and by Singing and Drumming on a Board direct the Chorus Their Postures in the Dance are very Antick and differing but all keep measure This is done with equal Earnestness and Labour but great appearance of Joy In the Fall when the Corn cometh in they begin to feast one another there have been two great Festivals already to which all come that will I was at one my self their Entertainment was a green Seat by a Spring under some shady Trees and twenty Bucks with hot Cakes of new Corn both Wheat and Beans which they make up in a square form in the leaves of the Stem and bake them in the Ashes and after that they fell to Dance But they that go must carry a small Present of their Money it may be six Pence which is made in the Bone of a Fish the black is with them as Gold the white Silver they call it all Wampum Their Government is by Kings which they call Sachema and those by Succession but always of the Mothers-side for Instance the Children of him that is now King will not succeed but his Brother by the Mother or the Children of his Sister whose Sons and after them the Children of her Daughters will Reign for no Woman inherits the Reason they render for this way of Descent is that their Issue may not be spurious Every King hath his Council and that consists of all the Old and Wise-men of his Nation which perhaps is two hundred People nothing of Moment is undertaken be it War Peace Selling of Land or Traffick
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
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
of a Mile about foâ— in a rank in two Companies using several Antick Tricks the King leading the dance all in the midst had black Horns on their Heads and Green Boughs in their Hands next whom were four or five Principal Men differently painted who with Clubs beat those forward that tired in the Dance which held so long that they were neither able to go nor stand they made a hellish noise and every one throwing away his Bough ran clapping their Hands up into a Tree and tearing down a Branch fell into their Order again After this fifteen of their properest Boys between ten and fifteen years old painted white were brought forth to the People who spent the Forenoon in dancing and finging about them with rattles Then the Children were fetched away the Women weeping and passionately crying out providing Moss Skins Matts and dry Wood making Wreaths for their Heads and decking their Hair with Leaves after which they were all cast on an heap in a Valley as dead where a great Feast was made for all the Company for two Hours they then fell again into a Circle and danced about the Youths causing a Fire to be made upon an Altar which our Men thought was designed to Sacrifice them to the Devil but it was a mistake and the Indians deluded our Men by false Stories one denying and another affirming the same thing being either ignorant or unwilling to discover the devilish Mysteries of their Religion but Captain Smith says that a King being demanded the meaning of this Sacrifice answered that the Children were not all dead but that Okee or the Devil did suck the Blood from their left Breast till some of them died but the rest were kept in the Wilderness till nine Moons were expired during which they must not converse with any and of these were made Priests and Conjurers They think these Sacrifices so necessary that if omitted they believe their Okee or Devil and their other Gods would hinder them from having any Deer Turkies Corn or Fish and would likewise make a great Slaughter among them They imagin their Priests after death go beyond the Mountains toward the Sun-setting and remain there continually in the shape of their Okee having their Heads painted with Oil and finely trimmed with Feathers being furnished with Beads Hatchets Copper and Tobacco never ceasing to dance and sing with their Predecessors yet they suppose the Common People shall dye like Beasts and never live after death some of their Priests were so far convinced that they declared they believed our God exceeded theirs as much as our Guns did their Bows and Arrows and sent many Presents to the President intreating him to pray to his God for Rain for their God would not send them any By break of day before they eat or drink the Men Women and Children above ten years old run into the Water and there wash a good space till the Sun arise then they offer Sacrifice to it strewing Tobacco on the Land and Water repeating the same Ceremonies at Sun set George Casson aforementioned was Sacrificed as they thought to the Devil being stript naked and bound to two Stakes with his back against a great Fire after which they ript up his Belly and burnt his Bowels drying his Flesh to the Bones which they kept above ground in a by Room many other Englishmen were cruelly and treacherously Executed by them though perhaps not Sacrificed and none had escaped if their Ambushes had succeeded Powhatan invited one Captain Ratcliff and thirty others to Trade for Corn and having brought them within his Ambush Murdered them all One Tomocomo an Indian and Counsellor to one of their Kings came into England in the Reign of King James the first who landing in the West was much surprized at our plenty of Corn and Trees imagining we ventured into their Countrey to supply those defects he began then to number the Men he met with but his Arithmetick soon failed him he related that Okee their God did often appear to him in his Temple to which purpose four of their Priests go into the House and using certain strange words and gestures eight more are called in to whom he discovers what his will is upon him they depend in all their Proceedings as in taking Journeys or the like sometimes when they resolve to go on hunting he by some known token will direct where they shall find Game which they with great cheerfulness acknowledging follow his directions and many times succeed therein he appears like a handsom Indian with long black Locks of Hair after he hath staid with his twelve Confederates for some time he ascendeth into the Air from whence he came The Natives think it a disgrace to fear death and therefore when they must dye they do it resolutely as it happened to one who robbed an Englishman and was by Powhatan vpon complaint made against him fetched sixty Miles from the place where he lay concealed and by this Tomocomo Executed in the presence of the English his Brains being knockt out without the least shew of fear or terrour The Virginians are not born so swarthy as they appear their hair is generally black few men have beards because they pluck out the hair that would grow their Ointments and smoaky houses do in a great measure cause their blackness whereby they look like Bacon they have one wife many Concubines and are likewise Sodomites The Ancient Women are used for Cooks Barbers and other services the younger for dalliance they are modest in their carriage and seldom quarrel in entertaining a stranger they spread a Matt for him to sit down and then dance before him they wear their nails long to flea their Deer and put Bows and Arrows into the Hands of their Children before they are six years old In each Ear they have generally three great holes wherein they commonly hang chains bracelets or Copper some wear a Snake therein coloured green and yellow near half a yard long which crawling about their necks offers to kiss their lips others have a dead Rat tyed by the Tail The Women raze their bodies legs and thighs with an Iron in curious knots and Shapes of Fowles Fishes Beasts and Rub a painting therein which will never come out The Queen of Apametica was attired with a Coronet beset with many white Bones with Copper in her ears and a Chain of the same six times incompassing her neck The Sasquehanocks are Giant-like people very monstrous in proportion behaviour and attire their voice sounds as if out of a Cave their Garments are Bears-Skins hanged with Bears Paws a Wolfes head and such odd Jewels their Tobacco Pipes three quarters of a yard long with the head of some beast at the end so weighty as to beat out the brains of a Horse The calf of one of their legs was measured three quarters of a yard about their other limbs being proportionable They have divers ridiculous conceits concerning their Original as