644 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 137 



house are 4 Sentinels, each standing from other a flight shoot : and at every 

 halfe houre, one from the Corps du guard doth hollovve, unto whom every 

 Sentinell doth answer round from his stand. If any faile, they presently send 

 forth an officer that beateth him extreamely. (Smith, John, Tyler ed., 1907, 

 pp. 113-114.) 



Now follows a description of his treasure-temple a mile from 

 Orapaks, after which Smith continues : 



He hath as many women as he will : whereof when hee lieth on his bed, one 

 sitteth at his head, and another pt his teet but when he sitteth, one sitteth on 

 his right harc^ and an( iher on bis ief . As he is weaiie of his women, hee 

 bestoweth them on those that best deserve them at his hands. When he dineth 

 or suppeth, one of his women, before and wfter meat, bringeth him water in 

 a wo [o] den platter to wash his hands. Another waiteth with a bunch of 

 feathers to wipe them ^usteed of a To well, and the feathers when he hath 

 wiped are dryed againe Hi* kingdom e descendeth not to his sonnes nor chil- 

 dren : but first to his brethren, whereof he hath 8, nam?ly Opitchapan, 

 Opechancanongh, and CnlJ'c.irgh, and af.er their decease to his sisters. First 

 to the eldest sister, then to ihe rest: and after them to the heires male and 

 female of the eldest sister, but never to the heires of the males. 



He nor any of his people understai d any leiters wherby to write or read, 

 only the lawes whereby he ruleth is custome. Yet when he listeth, his will 

 is a law and must bee obeyed : not only as a king, but as halfe a God they 

 esteeme him. His inferiour kings whom they cal werowances are tyed to 

 rule by customes, and have powei of life and death as their command in that 

 nature. But this word Werownnce which we call and conster (construe) for 

 a king, is a common woide wttveby thi-y call all commanders: for they have 

 but fewe words in their langi tige and but few occasions to use anie officers 

 more then one commander, which commoo'v they call werowances. They ail 

 knowe their severall landes, and habi -rions, and limits to fish, fowle, or hunt 

 in, but they hold all of their great Werowances Powhatan, tmto whome they 

 pay tribute of skinnes, beades, copper, pearle, deare, turkies, wild beasts, and 

 corne. What he commandeth they dg^e not disobey in the least thing. It 

 is strange to see with what great feare Piid adoration all these people doe obay 

 this Powhatan. For at his feet, they present whatsoever he commandeth, and 

 at the least f rowne of his browe, their greate-it spirits will tremble with feare : 

 and no marvell, for he is very terr'ole ant! tyrannous in punishing stich as offend 

 him. For example hee caus<d certaiiie malef Victors to be bound hand and 

 foot, then having of nu ny tii-s gathered great store of burning coles, they 

 rake these coles lound in the forme of a cockpit, and in the midst they 

 cast the offendei :> to broyle to death. Sometimes he causeth the heads of 

 them that offend bim to be laid upon the altar or sacrificing stone, and one 

 with clubbes beates out their braines. Wlien he would punish any notorious 

 enimie or malefactor, he causeth him to be tied to a tree, and, with muscle 

 shels or reeds, the execulioner cutteth of|f] his joints one after another, ever 

 casting what they cut offf] into the fire; then doth he proceed with shels and 

 reeds to case the skiimt from his head and face: then df»e they rip his belly, 

 and so burne him with the tree and all. Thus themselves reported they executed 

 George Cassen. Their ordinary correction is to beate them with cudgels. Wee 

 have seene a man kaeeling on his knees, and at Powhaians command, two 

 men have beat him on the bare skin, till he hath fallen senseless in a sfw]ouud, 

 and yet never cry nor complained. 



In the yeare 1608, hee surprised the people of Payankatank, his neare neigh- 

 bours and subjects. The occasion was to us uuknowne, but the manner was 



