460 MYTHS OK THE CHEROKEE [kth.ass, 19 



no liviii>r cR'atiiiv luDvew within tin- reauh nf tliiur sight, Ijut tlii'V can liraw it to 

 them. . . . 



"Tlie (if!<iTiption the Indians give ns of their colour is as various as what we are 

 told cif t 111' canielion, that seems to the spectator to change its colour, by every different 

 ])osition he may \-iew it in; which proceeds from the piercing rays of the light that 

 blaze from their foreheads, so as to dazzle the eyes, from whatever quarter they post 

 themselves — for in each of tlieir heads, there is a large carbuncle, which not only 

 repels, but they affirm, sullies the meridian beams of the sun. They reckon it so 

 dangerous to disturb these creatures, that no temptation can induce them to Ijetray 

 their secret recess to the prophane. They call them and all of the rattlesnake kind, 

 kings, or chieftains of the snakes, and they allow one such to every different species 

 of the brute creation. An old trader of Cheeowhee told me, that for ihe reward of 

 two pieces of stroud cloth, he engaged a couple of young warriors to shew him the 

 place of their resort, Vint the head-men wouUl not by any means allow it, on account 

 of a superstitious tradition — for they fancy the killing of them would expose them to 

 the danger of l^eing bit by the other inferior species of that serpentine trilje, who love 

 their chieftains, and know by instinct those who maliciously killed them, as they 

 fight only in their own defence and that of their young ones, never biting those who 

 do not disturb them." — History of the American Indians, pp. 237-238. 



In another place (page 87) he tells us of an ulunsutl owned by a medicine-man 

 w'ho resided at Tyniahse (Tomassee), a former Cherokee town on the creek of the 

 same name near the present Seneca, South Carolina. "The above Cheerake prophet 

 had a carbuncle near as big as an egg, which they said he found where a great 

 rattlesnake lay dead, and that it sparkled with such surprising lustre as to illumi- 

 nate his dark A\-inter house, like strong flashes of continued lightning, to the great 

 terror of the weak, who durst not upon any account approach the dreadful fire-dart- 

 ing jilace, for fear of sudden death. When he died it was buried along with him,, 

 accoriling to custom, in the town of Tymahse, under the great beloved cabbin [seat], 

 which stood in the westernmost part of that iild fabric, where they wlio will run the 

 risk of searching may luckily find it." 



Hagar also mentions the "Oolunsade," and .says, on the authority of John Ax: 

 " He who owns a crystal can call one of the Little People to him at any time and 

 make him do his bidding. Sometimes when people are ill it is because some evil 

 invisible being has taken possession of him. Then the Little Man called up liy the 

 crystal can lie placed on guard near the ill man to prevent the evil spirit from 

 re-entering after it has been expelled" (MS Stellar Legends of the Cherokee). 



The Southern Alleghenies, the old Cherokee country, abound with crystals of 

 various kinds, as well as with minerals. The Uhiiisu'ti is described as a triangular 

 crystal about two inches long, flat on the bottom, and with slightly convex sides 

 tapering up to a point, and perfectly transparent with the exception of a single red 

 streak rnnning through the center from top to bottom. It is evidently a rare and 

 beautiful specimen of rutile quartz, crystals of which, found in the region, may be 

 seen in the National Museum at 'Washington. 



Other small stones of various sliajies an<l color are in common use among the 

 Cherokee conjurers to discover lost articles or for other occult ]3m'poses. These 

 also are frequently called by the same name, and are said to have lieen originally 

 the scales of the Uktena, but the Uluiisu'tl — the talisman from the forehead of the 

 serpent — is the crystal here described, and is so exceedingly rare that so far as is known 

 only one remained among the East -Cherokee in 1890. Its owner, a famous hunter, 

 kept it liidden in a cave, wrapped u]5 in a deerskin, but refused all inducements to 

 show it, much less to part wdth it, stating that if he should expose it to the gaze of a 

 white man he could kill no more game, even were he permitted to live after such 

 a sacrilege. 



The possession of the talisman insures success in hunting, love, rain making, and 



