SWANTON] INDIANS OF THE SOTJTHEASTEiRN UNITED STATES 257 



natural food supplies elsewhere and, since such supplies were not 

 usually concentrated, this meant that the people themselves scattered 

 about in camps where they remained until planting time. Along the 

 coast food supplies were usually more plentiful, though the same 

 scattering took place in search of favorite fishing grounds. Here 

 the annual spring runs of herring and other fish brought about con- 

 centrations of population at fishing stations on the rivers, particu- 

 larly those at the edge of the Piedmont Plateau. But as these took 

 place near the planting season, the interruption of the winter hunt 

 occasioned by them was relatively small. Among littoral people, 

 however, fishing tended to take the place of the summer hunt. Never- 

 theless, even the inland tribes were not without opportunities to 

 enjoy a fish diet in summer, for they had fish traps led to by converg- 

 ing lines of rocks, and it was then that they resorted to the poisoning 

 of fish in pools in the shrunken streams, or dragged them for the 

 same purpose. 



We can hardly introduce specific references to the aimual economic 

 cycle better than by the following quotation from Beverley's History 

 of Virginia, in which it is treated in connection with the general subject 

 of standards, subdivisions of time, and methods of counting : 



They make their Account by units, tens, hundreds, &c. as we do; but they 

 reckon the Years by the Winters, or Cohonks, as they call them; which is a 

 name taken from the note of the Wild Geese, intimating so many times of the 

 Wild Geese coming to them, which is every Winter. They distinguish the 

 several parts of the Year, by five Seasons, vis. The budding or blossoming 

 of the Spring; the earing of the Corn, or roasting ear time; the Summer, or 

 highest Sun; the Corn-gathering, or fall of the Leaf; and the Winter, or 

 Cohonks. They count the Months likewise by the Moons, tho not with any 

 relation to so many in a year, as we do: but they make them return again 

 by the same name, as the Moon of Stags, the Corn Moon, the first and second 

 Moon of Cohonks, &c. They have no distinction of the hours of the Day, but 

 divide it only into three parts, the Rise, Power, and lowering of the Sun. 

 And they keep their account by knots on a string, or notches on a Stick, not 

 unlike the Peruvian Quippoes. (Beverley, 1705, bk. 3, pp. 43-44.) 



Smith gives us the Powhatan names of the five seasons : 



Their winter some call Popanow, the spring Cattapeuk, the sommer Cohat- 

 tayough, the earing of their Corne Nepinouph, the harvest and fall of leafe 

 Taquitock. (Smith, Tyler ed., 1907, p. 95.) 



It is not clear whether the Algonquian tribes of Virginia had a 

 definite beginning of the year or distinguished a summer and a win- 

 ter series of months. As we might expect, winter was the great 

 hunting season and was spent inland. Smith tells us: 



In March and Aprill they live much upon their fishing weares, and feed on 

 fish, Turkies and squirrels. In May and June they plant their fleldes, and live 

 most of Acornes, walnuts, and fish. But to mend their diet, some disperse 

 themselves in small companies, and live upon fish, beasts, crabs, oysters, land 



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