swantow] EARL? HISTORY OF THE CREEK [NDIANS 43 
ants wear a distinctive priestly costume, and they are regarded as priest* and vener- 
ated as such by their neighbors. They cul their hair. Leaving only two locks growing 
on their temples, which are bound under the chin. When the natives make war 
against their neighbors, according to the regrettable custom of mankind, these priests 
are invited by both sides to be present, not as actors, but as witnesses of the conflict. 
When the battle is aboul to open, they circulate among the warriors who are seated or 
lying on the ground, and sprinkle them with the juice of certain herbs they have 
chewed with their teeth; just as our priests at the beginning of the Mass sprinkle the 
worshippers with a branch dipped in holy water. When this ceremony is finished, the 
opposing sides fall upon one another. While the battle rages, the priests are left in 
charge of the camp, and when it is finished they look after the wounded, making no 
distinction between friends and enemies, and busy themselves in burying the dead. 1 
The inhabitants of this country do not eat human Mesh; the prisoners of war are 
enslaved by the victors. 
The Spaniards have visited several regions of that vast country; they are called 
Arambe, Guacaia. Quohathe, Tanzacca. and Pahor. The color of the inhabitants is 
dark brown. None of them have any system of writing, hut they preserve traditions 
of great antiquity in rhymes and chants. 1 )ancing and physical exercises are held in 
honor, and they are passionately fond of ball games, in which they exhibit the greatest 
skill. The women know how to spin and sew. Although they are partially clothed 
with skins of wild beasts, they use cotton such as the Milanese call bombasio, 2 and 
they make nets of the fiber of certain tough grasses, just as hemp and flax are used for 
the same purposes in Europe. 
There is another country called Inzignanin, whose inhabitants declare that, accord- 
ing to the tradition of their ancestors, there once arrived amongst them men with tails 
a meter long and as thick as a man's arm. This tail was not movable like those of the 
quadrupeds, hut formed one mass as we see is the case with fish and crocodiles, and 
was as hard as a bone. When these men wished to sit down, they had consequently 
to have a seat with an open bottom; and if there was none, they had to dig a hole more 
than a cubit deep to hold their tails and allow them to rest. Their fingers were as 
long as they were broad, and their skin was rough, almost scaly. They ate nothing 
but raw fish, and when the fish gave out they all perished, leaving no descendants. 3 
These fables and other similar nonsense have been handed down to the natives by 
their parents. Let us now notice their rites and ceremonies. 
The natives have no temples, but use the dwellings of their sovereigns as such. As 
a proof of this we have said that a gigantic sovereign called Datha ruled in the prov- 
ince of Duhare, whose palace was built of stone, while all the other houses were 
built of lumber covered with thatch or grasses. In the courtyard of this palace, the 
Spaniards found two idols as large as a three-year-old child, one male and one female. 
These idols are both called Inamahari. and had their residence in the palace. Twice 
each year they are exhibited, the first time at the sowing season, when they are 
invoked to obtain successful result for their labors. We will later speak of the har- 
vest. Thanksgivings are offered to them if the crops are good ; in the contrary case 
they are implored to show themselves more favorable the following year. 
The idols are carried in procession amidst pomp, accompanied by the entire people. 
It will not be useless to describe this ceremony. On the eve of the festival the king 
has his bed made in the room where the idols stand, and sleeps in their presence. At 
daybreak the people assemble, and the king himself carries these idols, hugging them 
1 There is some confusion here. Evidently the reference is to a class of doctors or shamans who performed 
such offices, not to an entire tribe. 
• Probably this is a reference to the use of mulberry bark common among all southern tribes. 
3 This is a native myth which Nfr. Mooney has collected from the Cherokee, and I from the Alal ama. 
Possibly it is a myth regarding the alligator from people who bad only heard of that reptile. 
