744 BUREAU OP AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 137 



this term to the priests, and very likely with some slight modification 

 it was used for both god or spirit and priest. Straehey's account of 

 Powhatan beliefs is probably the best : 



In every territory of a weroance is a temple and a priest, i)eradventure two 

 or three; yet happy doth that weroance accompt himself who can detayne with 

 him a Quiyoughquisock, of tlie best, grave, lucky, well instructed in their 

 misteryes, and beloved of their god ; and such a one is noe lesse honoured than 

 was Dianae's priest at Ephesus, for whome they have their more private 

 temples, with oratories and chauncells therein, according as is the dignity and 

 reverence of the Quiyoughquisock, which the weroance wilbe at charge to build 

 upon purpose, sometyme twenty foote broad and a hundred in length, fashioned 

 arbour wyse after their buylding, having comonly tlie dore opening into the 

 east, and at the west end a spence or chauncell from the body of the temple, 

 with hollow wyndings and pillers, whereon stand divers black imagles, fashioned 

 to the shoulders, with their faces looking downe the church, and where within 

 their weroances, upon a kind of beere of reedes, lye buryed ; and under them, 

 apart, in a vault low in the ground (as a more secrett thing), vailed with a 

 matt, sitts their Okeus, an image ill-favouredly carved, all black dressed, with 

 chaynes of perle, the presentment and figure of that god (say the priests unto 

 the laity, and who religiously believe what the priests saie) which doth them 

 all the harme they suffer, be yt in their bodies or goods, within doores or 

 abroad. (Strachey, 1849, p. 83.) 



He gives the name of the good deity as Ahone. The great temple 

 of Powhatan at Utamussack was of this same general type, where 

 were two supplementary buildings "filled with images of their kings 

 and devills, and tombes of the predicessors" (Strachey, 1849, p. 90). 

 These buildings were known as quioccosan, evidently another form 

 of quiyoughquisock. Beverley has left us a considerable account of 

 one of these buildings of whicli he had made a clandestine examina- 

 tion. 



Having removed about fourteen Loggs from the Door, with which it was barri- 

 cado'd, we went in, and at first found nothing but naked Walls, and a Fire place 

 in the middle. This House was about eighteen foot wide, and thirty foot long, 

 built after the manner of their other Cabbins, but larger, with a Hole in the 

 middle of the Roof, to vent the Smoke, the Door being at one end : Round about the 

 House, at some distance from it, were set up Posts, with Faces carved on them, 

 and painted. We did not observe any Window, or passage for the Light, except 

 the Door, and the vent of the Chimney. At last, we observ'd, that at the farther 

 end, about ten foot of the Room, was cut off by a Partition of very close Mats ; 

 and it was dismal dark behind that Partition. We were at first scrupulous 

 to enter this obscure place, but at last we ventur'd, and groping about, we 

 felt some Posts in the middle; then reaching our hands up those Posts, we 

 found large Shelves, and upon these Shelves three Mats, each of which was roU'd 

 up, and sow'd fast. These we handed down to the light, and to save time in un- 

 lacing the Seams, we made use of a Knife, and ripp'd them, without doing any 

 damage to the Mats. In one of these we found some vast Bones, which we 

 judg'd to be the Bones of Men, particularly we measured one Thigh-bone, and 

 found it two foot nine inches long: In another Mat, we found some Indian Toma- 

 hawks finely grav'd, and painted. These resembl'd the wooden Faulchion use'd 

 by the Prize-fighters in England, except that they have no guard to save the 

 Fingers, They were made of a rough heavy Wood Among these Toma- 



