170 ILEX VO.MITORIA. 



head. It was an annual custom for a cliicf to give notice to the inliahitants of 

 a town, in spriuir, to assiMnl)It' at the public iiouso, which was i)roviously purified 

 by fire. Alter they iuul convened, the ciiief was lirsi served with a bowl or 

 conch-shell, never before used, of their emetic broth; and next to him were 

 served each individual of the company, according to his rank, till at last they 

 came to the woiuru and children. They had a belief that this beverage restored 

 lost appetite, strengtiieued the stomach, and gave tliem agility and courage in 

 war. Lawson, in recording a tradition of this tree, says : " The savages of 

 Carolina have it in veneration above all the plants they are acquainted withal, 

 and tell you the discovery thereof was by an infirm Tudian, who laboured under 

 the burden of many rugged distempers, and could not be cured by all the doc- 

 tors ; so, one day he fell asleep, and dreamt that if he took a decoction of the tree 

 that grew at his head, he would certainly be cured; upon which he awoke, aiid 

 saw the Yaupon or Cassine-tree, which was not there when he fell asleep. He 

 followed the direction of his dream, and became perfectly well in a short time." 

 Among some of the tribes, it was held in such high esteem, that the decoction 

 of its toasted leaves, called "black drink," was forbidden to be used by their 

 women. 



Properties, Uses, ^'c. The leaves and young shoots of the cassena are inodo- 

 rous, the taste sub-aromatic and fervid, being useful in stomach fevers, diabetes, 

 small-pox, 6lc., as a mild emetic ; but the " black drink" of the Indians is a strong 

 decoction, and a violent, though harmless vomitive. At a certain season of the 

 year they often travel a distance of some hundred miles, from parts where this 

 tree does not grow, to procure a supply of the leaves. They make a fire on the 

 ground, and putting a kettle of water on it, filled with leaves, place themselves 

 around it, and with a wooden vessel holding about a pint, commence by taking 

 large draughts, which, in a short time, cause them to vomit freely. Thus they 

 continue drinking and vomiting for two or three days, until they are sufficiently 

 purified, when they return, with large quantities of the leaves and boughs, to 

 their homes. The leaves and young shoots of the Ilex cassena and dahoon. and 

 of many other shrubs, appear to be substituted indiscriminately by the Indians 

 for making their " black drink." In North Carolina, it is said, the inhabitants of 

 the sea-side swamps, having no good water to drink, disguise its taste by boiling 

 in it a little cassena, or other plants of a similar nature, and use it constantly 

 warm, as the Chinese do their daily tea. This circumstance gave rise to the 

 opinion that this species was the Ilex paraguariensis, and was erroneously called 

 "Paraguay Tea." 



This tree may be cultivated by seeds or by layers, in a similar manner, and 

 in the same kind of soil as the Ilex opaca ; but its situation should be more shel- 

 tered. 



