86 
THE HISTORY OF 
all on the same stream, within the distance of twenty miles. These Indians 
were all called formerly by the general name of the Usherees, and were a 
very numerous and powerful people. But the frequent slaughters made upon 
them by the northern Indians, and, what has been still more destructive by 
far, the intemperance and foul distempers introduced amongst them by the 
Carolina traders, have now reduced their numbers to little more than four 
hundred fighting men, besides women and children. It is a charming place 
where they live, the air very wholesome, the soil fertile, and the winters ever 
mild and serene. 
In Santee river, as in several others of Carolina, a small kind of alligator 
is frequently seen, which perfumes the water with a musky smell. They sel- 
dom exceed eight feet in length in these parts, whereas, near the equinoctial, 
they come up to twelve or fourteen. And the heat of the climate does not 
only make them bigger, but more fierce and voracious. They watch the 
cattle there when they come to drink and cool themselves in the river ; and 
because they are not able to drag them into the deep water, they make up 
by stratagem what they want in force. They swallow great stones, the 
weight of which being added to their strength, enables them to tug a mode- 
rate cow under water, and as soon as they have drowned her, they discharge 
the stones out of their maw and then feast upon the carcass. However, as fierce 
and as strong as these monsters are, the Indians will surprise them napping 
as they float upon the surface, get astride upon their necks, then whip a short 
piece of wood like a truncheon into their jaws, and holding the ends with 
their two hands, hinder them from diving by keeping their mouths open, and 
v»7hen they are almost spent, they will make to the shore, where their riders 
knock them on the head and eat them. This amphibious animal is a smaller 
kind of crocodile, having the same shape exactly, only the crocodile of the 
Nile is twice as long, being when full grown from twenty to thirty feet. 
This enormous length is the more to be wondered at, because the crocodile 
is hatched from an egg very little larger than that of a goose. It has a long 
head, which it can open very wide, with very sharp and strong teeth. Their 
eyes are small, their legs short, with claws upon their feet. Their tail makes 
half the length of their body, and the whole is guarded with hard impenetra- 
ble scales, except the belly, which is much softer and smoother. They keep 
much upon the land in the day time, but towards the evening retire into the 
water to avoid the cold dews of the night. They run pretty fast right for- 
ward, but are very awkward and slow in turning, by reason of their un- 
wieldy length. It is an error that they have no tongue, without which they 
could hardly swallow their food ; but in eating they move the upper jaw only, 
contrary to all other animals. The way of catching them in Egypt is, with 
a strong hook fixed to the end of a chain and baited with a joint of pork, 
which they are very fond of. But a live hog is generally tied near, the cry 
of which allures them to the hook. This account of the crocodile will agree 
in most particulars with the alligator, only the bigness of the last cannot enti- 
tle it to the name of “ leviathan,” which Job gave formerly to the crocodile, 
and not to the whale, as some interpreters^ would make us believe.. 
So soon as the Catawba Indians are informed of the approach of the Vir- 
ginia caravans, they send a detachment of their warriors to bid them wel- 
come, and escort them safe to their town, where they are received with great 
marks of distinction. And their courtesies to the Virginia traders, I dare 
say, are very sincere, because they sell them better goods and better penny- 
worths than the traders of Carolina. They commonly reside among the 
Indians till they have bartered their goods away for skins, with which they 
load their horses and come back by the same path they went. There are 
generally some Carolina traders that constantly live among the Catawbas, 
