346 LAWSON'S HISTORY 



understand that sort of gum will not split or rive ; 

 therefore, I suppose, the story might arise from 

 thence. At last he began to tell the most ridicu- 

 lous, absurd parcel of lies about lightning that 

 could be ; as that an Indian of that nation had 

 once got lightning in the likeness of a partridge ; 

 that no other lightning could harm him whilst he 

 had that about him ; and that after he had kept it 

 for several years it got away from him ; so that 

 he then became as liable to be struck with light- 

 ning as any other person. There was present at 

 the same time an Indian that had lived from his 

 youth, chiefly in an English house ; so I called to 

 him and told him what a parcel of lies the conju- 

 rer told, not doubting but he thought so as well 

 as I, but I found to the contrary ; for he replied, 

 that I was much mistaken, for that old man, who, 

 I believe was upwards of an hundred years old, 

 did never tell lies ; and as for what he said, it was 

 very true, for he knew it himself to be so. There- 

 upon seeing the fellow's ignorance, I talked no 

 more about it. 



Then the doctor proceeded to tell a long tale of 

 a great rattlesnake, which, a great while ago, lived 

 by a creek in that river, which was Neiis, and that 

 it killed abundance of Indians ; but at last a bald 

 eagle killed it and they were rid of a serpent that 

 used to devour whole canoes full of Indians at a 

 time. 



I have been something tedious upon this subject, 

 on purpose to show what strange, ridiculous stories 



