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day and night in the fummer or moderate feafon ; 
the children and females however are feldom or 
never feen in the public fquare. 
The pillars and ! walls of the houfes of the 
fquare are decorated with various pafntings and 
fculptures ; which I fuppofe to be hieroglyphic, 
and as an hiftoric legendary of political and fa- 
cer dotal affairs : but they are extremely pictu- 
refque or caricature, as men in variety of atti- 
tudes, fome ludicrous enough, others having the 
head of fome kind of animal, as thofe of a duck, 
turkey, bear, fox, wolf, buck, &c. and again 
thofe kind of creatures are reprefented having 
the human head. Thefe defigns are not ill exe- 
cuted ; the outlines bold, free and well propor- 
tioned. The pillars fupporting the front or piazza 
of the council-houfe of the fquare, are ingeni- 
oufly formed in the likenefs of yaft fpeckled fer- 
pents, afcending upwards ; the Ottafles being of 
the make family or tribe. At this time the town 
was fading, taking medicine, and I think I may 
fay praying, to avert a grievous calamity of fick- 
nefs, which had' lately afflicted them, and laid in 
the grave abundance of their citizens. They fall 
feven or eight days', during which time they eat 
or drink nothing but a meagre gruel, made of a 
little corn-flour and water ; taking at the fame time 
by way of medicine or phyfic, a ftrong decoction of 
the roots of the Iris verficolor, which is a powerful 
carthartic : they hold this root in high eftimation, 
every town cultivates a little plantation of it, haying 
a large artificial pond, juft without the town, 
planted and almofl overgrown with it, where they 
lifually dig clay for pottery, and mortar and plafter 
for their buildings, and I obferved where they had 
lately been digging up this rcot* 
In 
