42 
THE HISTORY OF 
Dan stretches away pretty near west, and runs clear through the great 
mountains. 
We did not follow the surveyors till towards noon, being detained in our 
camp to christen several more children. We were conducted a nearer way, 
by a famous woodsman, called Epaphroditus Bamton. This forester spends 
all his time in ranging the woods, and is said to make great havoc among the 
deer, and other inhabitants of the forest, not much wilder than himself 
We proceeded to the canoe landing on Roanoke, where we passed the 
river with the baggage. But the horses were directed to a ford about a mile 
higher, called by the Indians Moni-seep, which signifies, in their jargon, shal- 
low water. This is the ford where the Indian traders used to cross with their 
horses, in their way to the Catawba nation. There are many rocks in the 
river thereabouts, on which grows a kind of water grass, which the wild 
geese are fond of, and resort to it in great numbers. We landed on the south 
side of Roanoke, at a plantation of Col. Mumford’s, where, by that gentle- 
man’s special directions, we met with sundry refreshments. Here we pitched 
our tent, for the benefit of the prospect, upon an eminence that overlooked 
a broad piece of low ground, very rich, though liable to be overflowed. By 
the way, one of our men killed another rattle-snake, with eleven rattles, hav- 
ing a large gray squirrel in his maw, the head of which was already digested, 
while the body remained still entire. The way these snakes catch their prey 
is thus : They ogle the poor little animal, till by force of the charm he falls 
down stupified and senseless on tha ground. In that condition the snake ap- 
proaches, and moistens first one ear and then the other with his spawl, and 
after that the other parts of the head, to make all slippery. V/hen that is 
done, he draws this member into his mouth, and after it, by slow degrees, all 
the rest of the body. 
29th. This being Sunday, we had divine service and a sermon, at which 
several of the borderers assisted, and we concluded the duties of the day by 
christening five children. Our devotion being performed in the open field, 
like that of Mr. Whitfield’s flocks, an unfortunate shower of rain had almost 
dispersed our congregation. About four in the afternoon the Carolina com- 
missioners made a shift to come up with us, whom we had left at Pigeon-roost 
creek the Friday before, waiting for their provisions. When their cart came 
up they prudently discharged it, and rather chose to hire two men to carry 
some part of their baggage. The rest they had been obliged to leave behind, 
in the crotch of an old tree, for want of proper conveniences to transport it 
any farther. 
We found in the low ground several plants of the fern root, which is said 
to be much the strongest antidote yet discovered against the poison of the 
rattle-snake. The leaves of it resemble those of fern, fi'om whence it obtained 
its name. Several stalks shoot from the same root, about six inches long, that 
lie mostly on the ground. It grows in a very rich soil, under the protection 
of some tall tree, that shades it from the meridian beams of the sun. The 
root has a faint spicy taste, and is preferred by the southern Indians to all 
other counter-poisons in tiiis country. But there is another sort preferred by 
the northern Indians, that they call Seneca rattle-snake root, to which wonder- 
ful virtues are ascribed in the cure of pleurisies, fevers, rheumatisms, and 
dropsies ; besides it being a powerful antidote against the venom of the rattle- 
snake. 
In the evening the messenger we had sent to Christiana returned with five 
Saponi Indians. We could not entirely rely on the dexterity of our own 
men, which induced us to send for some of the Indians. We agreed with 
two of the most expert of them, upon reasonable terms, to hunt for us the 
remaining part of our expedition. But on? of them falling sick soon after, 
