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A M E%^I C A 



Chap. II. 



1 Situation of 



Virginia. 





TirftDifcove. 



Proprietaries Government, than to make any vain attempt againft his Power. 



Thefe People live under no Law, but that of Nature and Reafon, which not* 

 withftanding leads them to the acknowledgement of a Deity, whom they own to 

 be the Giver of all good things, wherewith their Life is maintained, and to him 

 they Sacrifice the firft Fruits of the Earth, and of that which they acquire by Hunt- 

 ingandFifliing: The Sacrifice is perform'd by their Priefts, who are commonly 

 ancient Men, and profefs themfelves Conjurers ; they firft make a Speech to their 

 God, then burn part, and eat and diftribute the reft among them that are prefent; 

 until this Ceremony be ended, they will not touch one bit thereof; they hold the 

 Immortality of the Soul, and that there is a place of Joy, and another of Torment 

 after Death, prepared for every one according to their Merits. 



They bury their Dead with ftrange expreflions of Sorrow (the better fort upon 

 a Scaffold, ere&ed for that end) whom they leave cover'd with Mats, and return 

 when his flefli is confum'd to Interr his Bones -, the common fort are committed to 

 the Earth without that Ceremony ; but they never omit to bury fome part of their 

 Wealth, Arms, and Houfliold.ftuffwith the Corps. 



Sect. IV. 



V 



Virginia. 



THe moft Southerly part of Virginia (for all that Traft of Land, reaching 

 from Norumbega to Florida, and containing New-England, New -York, Mary* 

 land, and this part we are now about to Treat of, was by Sir Walter %aw- 

 high term'd Virginia, in Honor of our Virgin-Queen Elizabeth) lies between Mary 

 land, which it hath on the North, and Carolina, which it hath on the South, from 

 thirty fix, to near thirty eight Degrees of Northern Latitude 5 and with the reft of 

 thofe Countries which were comprehended under the fame Denomination, was by 

 the Encouragement, and at the Expence of the faid Sir Walter <%awleigb y firft Difco- 

 ver'd (as fome fay) by Captain Francis Drake, for his many notable and bold Ex- 

 ploits, afterwards Knighted by the Queen : But upon examination we find little 

 reafon to afcribe the firft Difcovery thereof to Sir Francis Drake, whofe chief per- 

 formances, from the time he firft made himfelf Eminent at Sea, were againft the 

 Spaniards, and for the moft part in the Sf>an\fh*lndies^ as his taking ofNombre de Dios, 

 and Vinta Cru%, with an infinite mafs of Treafure ; his taking of Santo Domingo in 

 Hifpaniola, and of Cartbagena in Caslella Anna , and that which feems to have given 

 occafion of attributing to him the firft Difcovery of thefe parts , was his touching 

 upon the North part of the Ifle of California, where being nobly Entertain'd by 

 Hiob, a King of that Countrey, and having a Surrcndry thereof made to him, 

 in behalf of the Queen of England, he upon a Pillar erected,. Infcrib'd the Arms of 

 England, with the Queens Name and his own, and call'd the place Nova Jlbion : 

 Certain indeed it is, that Sir Walter %cfoleigh was the firft Promoter of this Difco* 

 very 5 for, after Mr. Martin Forbijber had been fent by Queen Elizabeth to fearch for 

 the North- Weft Paflage, which was in the year 1576. and for which he alfo was 

 by the Queen advane'd to Knight hood, and nobly rewarded ; and Sir Humphrey 

 Gilbert obtaining the Queens Letters Patents, for attempting a Plantation, had 

 reach'd Newfoundland (though perifhing in his return) he upon thefe Relations and 

 Inducements undertook by others (for his employments would not permit him to 

 go in Perfon) to gain Difcoverics to the Southward ; and accordingly in the year 

 of our Lord 1584. obtain'd a Commifllon from the Queen, to difcovcr and Plant 



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