Lawson’s Travels V
Continuing the diary of the 1700
traveler into the North Carolina
Piedmont.
". . . he look grcol
Delight in making
Fish-hooks ol his own
Invention, which
would have been a
good Piece for on
Antiquary to have
puzzled his Brains
withol, in trocing out
the Characters of
oil the Orientol
Tongues."
The next day, having some occasion
to write, the Indian King who saw me.
believed that he could write as well as
I. Whereupon I wrote a Word, and
gave it to him to copy, which he did
with more Exactness than any Euro¬
pean could have done that was illit¬
erate. It was so well that he who could
read mine, might have done the same
by his. Afterwards he took great De¬
light in making Fish-hooks of his own
Invention, which would have been a
good Piece for an Antiquary to have
puzzled his Brains withal, in tracing
out the Characters of all the Oriental
Tongues. He sent for several Indians
to his Cabin to look at his Handy-work,
and both he and they thought I could
read his Writing as well as I could my
own.
I had a Manual in my Pocket that
had King David's Picture in it. in one
of his private Retirements. The Indian
asked me. Who that Figure repre¬
sented. I told him. It was the Picture
of a good King, that lived, according
to the Rules of Morality, doing to all
as he would be done by, ordering all
his Life to the Service of the Creator
of all things; and being now above us
all in Heaven, with God Almighty, who
had rewarded him with all the delight¬
ful Pleasures imaginable in the other
World, for his Obedience to him in this.
I concluded with telling them, that we
received nothing here below, as Food,
Raiment. &c.. but what came from that
Omnipotent Being.
They listened to my Discourse with
a profound Silence, assuring me that
they believed what I said to be true.
No Man living will ever be able to
make these heathens sensible of the
Happiness of a future State, except he
now and then mention some lively
carnal Representation, which may
quicken their Apprehensions and make
them thirst after such a gainful Ex¬
change; for, were the best Lecture that
ever was preached by Man, given to
an ignorant sort of People in a more
learned Style than their mean Capaci¬
ties arc able to understand, the Intent
would prove ineffectual, and the
Hearers would be left in a greater
THE STATE. MAY 14. 196D
Labyrinth than their Teacher found
them in.
But dispense the Precepts of our
Faith according to the Pupil's Ca¬
pacity. and there is nothing in our Re¬
ligion but what an indifferent Reason
is. in some measure, able to compre¬
hend; though a Ncw-England Minister
blames the French Jesuits for this way
of Proceeding, as being quite contrary’
to a true Christian Practice, and af¬
firms it to be no ready or true Method
to establish a lively Representation of
our Christian Belief amongst these
Infidels.
All the Indians hereabouts carefully
preserve the Bones of the Flesh they
cat and burn them, as being of Opinion
that if they omitted that Custom the
Game would leave their Country, and
they should not be able to maintain
themselves by their Hunting. Most of
these Indians Wear Mustachoes or
Whiskers, which is rare; by reason the
Indians arc a People that commonly
pull the Hair of their Faces and other
Parts, up by the Roots and suffer none
to grow. Here is plenty of Chesnuts
which arc rarely found in Carolina,
and never near the Sea or Salt-Water,
though they arc frequently in such
Places in Virginia.
At the other House where our Fel¬
low Travelers lay, they had provided
a Dish in great Fashion amongst the
Indians, which was Two young Fawns
taken out of the Does' Bellies, and
boiled in the same slimy Bags Nature
had placed them in, and one of the
Country-Hares, stewed with the Guts
in her Belly, and her Skin with the
Hair on. This new fashioned Cookery
wrought Abstinence in our Fellow-
Travelers. which I somewhat wondered
at. because one of them made nothing
of eating Allcgators as heartily as if
it had been Pork and Turncps. The
Indians dress most things after the
Woodcock Fashion, never taking the
Guts out.
17
