bwanton] EARLY BISTORV OF THE CREEK IXMANS 45 
Such are the verbal traditions handed down to them from i heir ancestors. They are 
regarded as sacred and considered authentic. Whoever dared to believe differently 
would be ostracised. These natives also believe that we live under the vault of 
heaven; they do not suspect the existence of the antipodes. They think the sea has 
its gods, and believe quite as many foolish things aboul i hem as Greece, the friend of 
lies, talked about Nereids and other marine gods — Glaucus, Phorcus, and the rest 
of them. 
When the priest has Bushed his speech he inhales the smoke of certain herbs, 
puffing it in and out, pretending to thus purge and absolve the people from their 
sins. Alter this ceremony the natives return home, convinced that the inventions 
of this impostor not only soothe the spirits, but contribute to the health of their bodies. 
Another fraud of the priests is as follows: When the chief is at death's door and 
about to give up his soul they send away all witnesses, and then surrounding his bed 
they perform some secret jugglery which makes him appear to vomit sparks and 
ashes. It looks like sparks jumping from a bright fire, or those sulphured papers, 
which people throw into the air to amuse themselves. These sparks, rushing through 
the air and quickly disappearing, look like those shooting stars which people call 
leaping wild goats. The moment the dying man expires a cloud of those sparks 
shoots up 3 cubits high with a noise and quickly vanishes. They hail this flame as 
the dead man's soul, bidding it a last farewell and accompanying its flight with their 
wailings, tears, and funereal cries, absolutely convinced that it has taken its flight 
to heaven. Lamenting and weeping they escort the body to the tomb. 
Widows are forbidden to marry again if the husband has died a natural death; 1 
but if he has been executed they may remarry. The natives like their women to be 
chaste. They detest immodesty and are careful to put aside suspicious women. 
The lords have the right to have two women, but the common people have only one. 
The men engage in mechanical occupations, especially carpenter work and tanning 
skins of wild beasts, while the women busy themselves with distaff, spindle, and 
needle. 
Their year is divided into 12 moons. Justice is administered by magistrates, 
criminals and the guilty being severely punished, especially thieves. Their kings 
are of giganl ic size, as we have already mentioned. All the provinces we have named 
pay them tributes and these tributes are paid in kind ; for they are free from the pest 
of money, and trade is carried on by exchanging goods. They love games, especially 
tennis; 2 they also like metal circles turned with movable rings, which they spin on 
a table, and they shoot arrows at a mark. They use torches and oil made from dif- 
ferent fruits for illumination at night. They likewise have olive-trees. 3 They 
invite one another to dinner. Their longevity is gnat and their old age is robust. 
They easily cure fevers with the juice of plants, as they also do their wounds, unless 
the latter are mortal. They employ simples, of which they are acquainted with a 
great many. When any of them suffers from a bilious stomach he drinks a draught 
composed of a common plant called Guahi, 4 or eats the herb itself; after which he 
immediately vomits his bile and feels better. This is the only medicament they 
use, and they never consult doctors except experienced old women, or priests ac- 
quainted with the secret virtues of herbs. They have none of our delicacies, and as 
they have neither the perfumes of Araby nor fumigations nor foreign spices at their 
disposition, they content themselves with what their country produces and live 
happily in better health to a more robust old age. Various dishes and different foods 
are not required to satisfy their appetites, for they are contented with little. 
1 Probably with a time limitation like the Muskhogeans. 
2 This, of course, refers to the great southern ball game. 
i < >il wis extracted from acorns and several kinds of nuts. < >ne of these is evidently intended. 
* Perhaps the Iler vomiloria from which the "black drink" was brewed. 
