SWANTON] INIDIANS OF THE SiOUTHE ASTERN UNITED STATES 363 



Sunne, or by the fire, and then being pounded into floure wil make good 

 bread ; or els while they are greene they are to bee pared, cut into pieces and 

 stampt; loues of the same to be laid neere or ouer the fire vntill it be floure, 

 and then being well pounded againe, bread, or spone meate very good in 

 taste, and holsome may be made thereof, (Hariot, 1893, p. 26.) 



As usual Smith and Strachey nearly parallel each other, but the 

 latter is a little fuller : 



In one day a salvadge will gather sufllcient for a weeke ; these rootes are 

 much of the greatness and tast of potatoes. They use to rake up a great 

 nomber of them in old leaves and feme, and then cover all with earth or sand, 

 in the manner of a coal-pit ; on each side they contynue a great fier a dale 

 and a night before they dare eate yt : rawe, yt is no better than poison, and 

 being roasted (except yt be tender and the heat abated, or sliced and dryed 

 in the sun, mixed with sorrell and meale, or such like), yt will prickle and 

 torment the throat extreamely, and yet in sommer they use this ordinarily 

 for bread. (Strachey, 1849, p. 121.) 



It is perhaps the berries of the same {Peltandra virginica) 

 which appear under the name of Sacqvenvmmener in Hariot and 

 Ocoughtanamnis in Smith. These were dried in summer and must 

 be boiled a long time before being eaten, 8 or 9 hours according to 

 Hariot (1893, pp. 27-28), half a day according to Smith (1907, p. 

 92), for they were poisonous otherwise. 



Adair's remark that "they dry such kinds of fruit as will bear it" 

 is applicable to the entire section, but before peaches were introduced 

 into the country the greatest use was made of the persimmon. Dried 

 persimmons, or persimmon bread, are constantly mentioned by the 

 De Soto chroniclers under the name of ameixas. Du Pratz says regard- 

 ing the use of this among the Natchez : 



When [the persimmon] is well ripened the natives make bread of it, which 

 keeps from one year to another, and the virtue of this bread, greater than 

 that of fruit, is such that there is no diarrhea or dysentery which it does 

 not arrest, but one ought to use it with prudence and only after being purged. 

 In order to make this bread the natives scrape the fruit in very open sieves 

 to separate the flesh from the skin and seeds. From this flesh, which is like 

 thick porridge, and from the pulp they make loaves of bread l^/^ feet long, 

 1 foot broad, and of the thickness of the finger, which they put to dry in the 

 oven on a grill or, indeed, in the sun. In this latter fashion the bread 

 preserves more of its taste. It is one of the merchandises which they sell to 

 the French. (Le Page du Pratz, 1758, vol. 2, pp. 18-19; Swanton, 1911, p. 77.) 



Hariot and Strachey mention persimmons but do not indicate how 

 they were prepared for eating. Smith says that they cast the fruit 

 "uppon hurdles on a mat, and preserve them as Pruines" (Smith, 

 Tyler ed., 1907, pp. 90-91). Its use is mentioned among the Creeks, 

 Chickasaw, and Choctaw. 



The original "Indian peach" was probably introduced by the 

 Spaniards, and peach trees were soon planted about most Indian 

 towns of any consequence. Like the native plums and persimmons. 



