SOME REMAINS of ANTIQUITY. 207 



The young priefts, among the Creek-Indians, generally 

 carry a fluffed owl about them. It is the badge of their 

 profeflion. 



Mr. Beverley fpeaks of a fmall bird, which was held 

 in great regard by fome of the Indians of Virginia. 

 " They fay, this is the Soul of one of their Princes ; and 

 on that fcore, they would not hurt it for the World. But 

 there was once a profane Indian in the upper Parts of 

 James River, who, after Abundance of Fears and Scruples, 

 was at laft brib'd to kill one of them with his Gun ; but 

 the Indians fay, he paid dear for his Prefumption, for in 

 a few Days after he was taken away, and never more 

 heard of."* 



white Oivh which are revered by the People, that hiftorical PaiTage feenis to 

 carry along with it the Face of Truth. For this is certain, that the Kahnuchs, 

 when they celebrate any great Fedival, always wear coloured O^.vl's Feathers 

 in their Caps, and the IVogulil-zi have, among other Idols, a wooden Owl, to 

 which they faften the Legs of a natural One." An Hillorico-Geographical 

 Defcription of the north and eaftern parts of Europe and Alia, &c. p. 434 

 and 435. London: 1738. 



* From another circumftance mentioned by Beverley, it is evident that 

 the above bird mull have been greatly efteemed by the Indians. " Thej 

 (the Indians), fays this faithful writer, erefl Altars where-cver tliey have any 

 remarkable occafion ; and becaufe their principal Devotion confifts in Sacri- 

 fice, they have a profound Refpedl for thefe Altars. They have one parti- 

 cular Altar, to which, for fome myftical Reafon, many of their Nations pay 

 an extraordinary Veneration ;" of this fort was a cryftal cube, which the In- 

 dians called Paiucoraiice, "from whence proceeds the great Reverence they 

 have for a fmall Biid that ufes tlie Woods, and in their Note continually- 

 found that name. This Bird flies alone, and is only heard in the Twilight." 

 Tie Hi/lory of Firginia, in Four Piirls. yi. i84and iS^. London: 1722. I 

 take the bird here fpoken of to be the Caprimulgus virginianus of Gmelin, the 

 Long-vvinged-Goatfucker of Pennant. This bird, which is very common in 

 difltrent parts of North- America, is beft known by the name of IVIAp-poor- 

 IVill, from the fuppofed reiemblance of one of its notes to thefe words. It is the 

 IVecoo I'ls of the Delaware-Indians. Long before I knew that this bird was 

 peculiarly regarded by any of our Indians, I ufed fomething like the fol- 

 lowing words, in fome manufcript communications, which I made to my 

 friend Mr. Pennant. " There is fomething fo melancholy, and fo truly 

 folcmn, in the evening call of the Caprimulgus, that I fliould not be fur- 

 prifed to find that this bird is an objeft of religious veneration, or regard, 

 with fome of our Indians, who are among the number cf the moft fuper- 

 ftitious nations of mankind." 



D d z Mr. Clayton, 



