{Ear Bobs.}
Some Of The Indians Wear Great Bobs In Their Ears, And Sometimes
In The Holes Thereof They Put Eagles And Other Birds, Feathers, For A Trophy.
When They Kill Any Fowl, They Commonly Pluck Off The Downy Feathers,
And Stick Them All Over Their Heads.
Some (both Men and Women)
wear great Necklaces of their Money made of Shells.
They often wear
Bracelets made of Brass, and sometimes of Iron Wire.
{Indian Money.}
Their Money is of different sorts, but all made of Shells,
which are found on the Coast of Carolina, which are very large and hard,
so that they are very difficult to cut. Some English Smiths
have try'd to drill this sort of Shell-Money, and thereby thought
to get an Advantage; but it prov'd so hard, that nothing could be gain'd.
They oftentimes make, of this Shell, a sort of Gorge, which they wear
about their Neck in a string; so it hangs on their Collar,
whereon sometimes is engraven a Cross, or some odd sort of Figure,
which comes next in their Fancy. There are other sorts valued at a Doe-Skin,
yet the Gorges will sometimes sell for three or four Buck-Skins ready drest.
There be others, that eight of them go readily for a Doe Skin;
but the general and current Species of all the Indians in Carolina,
and, I believe, all over the Continent, as far as the Bay of Mexico,
is that which we call Peak, and Ronoak; but Peak more especially.
This is that which at New-York, they call Wampum, and have used it
as current Money amongst the Inhabitants for a great many Years.
This is what many Writers call Porcelan, and is made at New-York
in great Quantities, and with us in some measure. Five Cubits of this
purchase a dress'd Doe-Skin, and seven or eight purchase a dress'd Buck-Skin.
An English-man could not afford to make so much of this Wampum
for five or ten times the Value; for it is made out of a vast great Shell,
of which that Country affords Plenty; where it is ground smaller
than the small End of a Tobacco-Pipe, or a large Wheat-Straw.
Four or five of these make an Inch, and every one is to be drill'd through,
and made as smooth as Glass, and so strung, as Beads are,
and a Cubit of the Indian Measure contains as much in Length,
as will reach from the Elbow to the End of the little Finger.
They never stand to question, whether it is a tall Man, or a short one,
that measures it; but if this Wampum Peak be black or purple,
as some Part of that Shell is, then it is twice the Value. This the Indians
grind on Stones and other things, till they make it current,
but the Drilling is the most difficult to the English-men,
which the Indians manage with a Nail stuck in a Cane or Reed.
Thus they roll it continually on their Thighs, with their Right-hand,
holding the Bit of Shell with their Left, so in time they drill a Hole
quite through it, which is a very tedious Work; but especially in making
their Ronoak, four of which will scarce make one Length of Wampum.
The Indians are a People that never value their time,
so that they can afford to make them, and never need to fear
the English will take the Trade out of their Hands. This is the Money
with which you may buy Skins, Furs, Slaves, or any thing the Indians have;
it being the Mammon (as our Money is to us) that entices and persuades them
to do any thing, and part with every thing they possess,
except their Children for Slaves. As for their Wives, they are often sold,
and their Daughters violated for it. With this they buy off Murders;
and whatsoever a Man can do that is ill, this Wampum will quit him of,
and make him, in their Opinion, good and vertuous, though never
so black before.
{Indians how named.}
All the Indians give a Name to their Children, which is not the same
as the Father or Mother, but what they fancy. This Name they keep,
(if Boys) till they arrive to the Age of a Warriour, which is
sixteen or seventeen Years; then they take a Name to themselves, sometimes,
Eagle, Panther, Allegator, or some such wild Creature;
esteeming nothing on Earth worthy to give them a Name,
but these Wild-Fowl, and Beasts. Some again take the Name of a Fish,
which they keep as long as they live.
{Indian King and Counsellors. Every Town a Ruler,
yet one over all the Nation.}
The King is the Ruler of the Nation, and has others under him, to assist him,
as his War-Captains, and Counsellors, who are pick'd out and chosen
from among the ancientest Men of the Nation he is King of.
These meet him in all general Councils and Debates, concerning War, Peace,
Trade, Hunting, and all the Adventures and Accidents of Humane Affairs,
which appear within their Verge; where all Affairs are discoursed of
and argued pro and con, very deliberately (without making
any manner of Parties or Divisions) for the Good of the Publick;
for, as they meet there to treat, they discharge their Duty
with all the Integrity imaginable, never looking towards their Own Interest,
before the Publick Good. After every Man has given his Opinion,
that which has most Voices, or, in Summing up, is found the most reasonable,
that they make use of without any Jars and Wrangling, and put it in Execution,
the first Opportunity that offers.
{Succession how.}
The Succession falls not to the King's Son, but to his Sister's Son,
which is a sure way to prevent Impostors in the Succession.
Sometimes they poison the Heir to make way for another,
which is not seldom done, when they do not approve of the Youth
that is to succeed them.
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