of North Carolina. 307 



to be met with ; neither does the youngest Wife amongst the 

 Iiidiwns ever fail of proving so good a Nurse, as to bring up 

 her Child free from the Richets, and disasters that proceed 

 from the Teeth, with many other Distempers which are fre- 

 quent amongst the Children in Europe. 



They let their Children (amongst whom are many Olive 

 Beauties) suck 'till they are well grown, unless they prove 

 big with Child sooner than usual. They always nurse their 

 own Children themselves, unless Sickness or Death prevents 

 them. I only once saw a Nurse hired to give Suck to an 

 Indian Woman's Child, the Mother happening to have a fit 

 of sickness not long after her delivery ; by wdiich not only her 

 Strength was much impaired, but likewise the Milk in her 

 Breasts. As soon as the Child is born, they wash it in cold 

 Water in the next Stream or Kiver, then anoint or bedaub it 

 all over with Bears Grease and other Ingredients, as I have 

 before observed; after their Delivery they wash themselves 

 in the Waters, and absent themselves from the Company of 

 Men for forty Days. The Husband takes care to provide a 

 Cradle, which is soon made, consisting only of a piece of flat 

 Wood that they hew with their Hatchets to the likeness of a 

 Board, about two Feet long and a Foot broad, to this they 

 brace and tie the Child very close, having near the middle a 

 Stick fastned about two Inches from the Board, for the 

 Child's Breech to rest on, under this they put a Wad of Moss 

 that receives the Child's Excrements, by which means they 

 can very readily shift the Moss, and keep all clean and sweet. 

 They are apt to have the Bodies and Heads of their Children 

 flat, which is owing to these kind of Cradles, yet they are the 

 most portable things that can be invented, there being a 

 String from one corner of the Board to the other, whereby 



Qq 2 the 



