OF NORTH CAROLINA. 295 



that town or nation, and bids them supply the 

 dead man's place by following his steps, who, he 

 assures them, is gone into the country of souls, 

 which they think lies a great way off in this world 

 which the sun visits in his ordinary course, and that 

 he will have the enjoyment of handsome young 

 women, great store of deer to hunt, never meet 

 with hunger, cold or fatigue, but every thing to 

 answer his expectation and desire. This is the 

 heaven they propose to themselves ; but, on the 

 contrary, for those Indians that are lazy, thievish 

 amongst themselves, bad hunters, and no warriors, 

 nor of much use to the nation, to such they allot, 

 in the next world, hunger, cold, troubles, old ugly 

 women for their companions, with snakes, and all 

 sorts of nasty victuals to feed on. Thus is marked 

 out their heaven and hell. After all this harangue 

 he diverts the people with some of their traditions, 

 as when there was a violent hot summer, or very 

 hard winter ; when any notable distempers raged 

 amongst them ; when they w r ere at war with such 

 and such nations ; how victorious they were ; and 

 what were the names of their war captains. To 

 prove the times more exactly, he produces the re- 

 cords of the country, which are a parcel of reeds 

 of different lengths, with several distinct marks, 

 known to none but themselves, by which they 

 seem to guess very exa'ctly at accidents that hap- 

 pened many years ago ; nay, two or three ages or 

 more. The reason I have to believe what they 

 tell me on this account, is, because I have been at 



