TRAVELS IN 
184 
than he, and ferved and waited upon him with figns 
of the moft abjedl fear. The manners and cuftoms 
of the Alachuas, and moft of the lower Creeks or 
Simiiloles, appear evidently tindlured with Spanifh 
civilization. Their religious and civil ufages mani- 
feft a prediledtion for the Spanifh cuftoms. There 
are feveral Chriftians among them, many of whom 
wear little filver crucifixes, affixed to a wampum 
collar round their necks, or fufpended by a fmall 
chain upon their bread. Thefe are faid to be bap- 
tized ; and notwithftanding moft of them fpeak and 
underftand Spanifh, yet they have been the moft 
bitter and formidable Indian enemies the Spaniards 
ever had. The flaves, both male and female, are 
permitted to marry amongft them: their children 
are free, and confidered in every refpedl equal to 
themfeives; but the parents continue in a ftate of 
flavery as long as they live. 
In obferving thefe Oaves, we behold at once, in 
their countenance and manners, the finking contraft 
betwixt a ftate of freedom and Oavery. They are 
the tameft, the moft abjedl creatures that w'e can 
poffibly imagine: mild, peaceable, and tradlable, 
they feem to have no will or power to adl but as di- 
redled by their mailers ; whilft the free Indians, on 
the contrary, are bold, adlive, and clamorous. They 
differ as widely from each other as the bull from the 
ox. 
The repaid is now brought in, confifting of veni- 
fon, Hewed with bear’s oil, frefh corn cakes, milk, 
and homonym and our drink, honey and water, very 
cool and agreeable. After partaking of this ban- 
quet, we took leave and departed for the great fa- 
vanna. 
We 
