[273-2] The Creeks had, according to Hawkins, not less than seven sacred plants; chief of them were the cassine yupon, called by botanists Ilex vomitoria, or Ilex cassina, of the natural order Aquifoliaceæ; and the blue flag, Iris versicolor, natural order Iridaceæ. The former is a powerful diuretic and mild emetic, and grows only near the sea. The latter is an active emeto-cathartic, and is abundant on swampy grounds throughout the Southern States. From it was formed the celebrated “black drink,” with which they opened their councils, and which served them in place of spirits.
[274-1] Martius, Von dem Rechtzustande unter den Ureinwohnern Brasiliens, p. 32.
[275-1] Mr. Anderson, in the Am. Hist. Mag., vii. p. 79.
[276-1] Such spectacles were nothing uncommon. They are frequently mentioned in the Jesuit Relations, and they were the chief obstacles to missionary labor. In the debauches and excesses that excited these temporary manias, in the recklessness of life and property they fostered, and in their disastrous effects on mind and body, are depicted more than in any other one trait the thorough depravity of the race and its tendency to ruin. In the quaint words of one of the Catholic fathers, “If the old proverb is true that every man has a grain of madness in his composition, it must be confessed that this is a people where each has at least half an ounce” (De Quen, Rel. de la Nouv. France, 1656, p. 27). For the instance in the text see Rel. de la Nouv. France, An 1639, pp. 88-94.
[277-1] Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes, v. p. 423.
[277-2] J. M. Stanley, in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Contributions, ii. p. 38.
[278-1] D’Orbigny, L’Homme Américain, ii. p. 81.
[279-1] See Balboa, Hist. du Pérou, pp. 28-30.
[281-1] D’Orbigny, L’Homme Américain, ii. p. 235.
[281-2] Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, v. p. 652.