I have now related a few of the tragedies of the dark recesses of the forest, from the many that our tradition relates.
There was also a little old man of singular appearance that frequented among them at their ball plays, and did not seem to be inclined to make acquaintance with any one, but kept by himself and appeared to be mild and humble. At length this man became very sick with putrefying sores from head to foot and was very loathesome. Nobody knew who he was or where he came from: he had no home; he gave his name as Qua-ra, or Rabbit: he went from house to house of all the different clans or tribes in the nation, as for instance, the Eel, Snipe, Beaver, Turtle, Wolf, Deer. When he would approach the house, seemingly to go in, they would loathe him to enter, and when he came to the doorstep he would seem to hear their thoughts and then return; thus he was repulsed from all the houses of the above clans, he finally came to the house of the Bear clan. When the mistress of the house observed him coming, she had pity on him, and presently prepared a bed for him with the best deerskins she had; when he came to the door he knew her hospitable heart and went in. She immediately assured him of his welcome in her meanly hut, and that she was ready to do everything in her power to relieve his distress, and appointed his lodge where he had laid himself nearly exhausted. He then told her to go and get the root of a certain kind of plant, which she immediately did and prepared according to his direction, which he took and readily recovered. He then went through a series of diseases, directing her as before to get the different kind of medicines for the different diseases. Lastly, he became sick with that fatal disease, consumption. This he said was incurable, and he must die. He then told her he was a messenger from Tarenyawagon, to show them the diseases that they should be subjected to, and also the medicine to cure them. And also to tell them the predictions of their fate and doom. Said he could not withhold the water from his eyes, or keep from quaking when he thought of their irrevocable doom to which they were destined, and said: "There is a habitation beyond these great waters towards the sun-rising, which are inhabited by beings of very pale faces, and are looking only to themselves, have pity for nobody, and make their delight in doing mischief. They have killed Rah-wah-ne-yo (God); they mocked him and done all manner of bad things to him, and finally, they fastened him to a tree until he died. But death and the grave had not power to hold him. He arose and lives again, and he has gone to the world above, in those happy hunting grounds where all good O-qua-ho-wa (Indians), will go when they die, and will see him as he is.
"Now this class of pale-faces will come across the great waters and make their abode on this island, and will bring poison to give you to drink, which will poison the spirit and kill the body. They will kill your husbands, brothers and sons, and drive you away to the sun-setting, and will deprive the children that are coming behind, off their domain. They will drive you until you are in the great salt water up to your waist. Oh, hostess, this is the final doom of your great nation.
"And now as for you, Oh, mother, I have no words that I can utter, to express the sincere gratitude of my inmost soul. I have nothing to give to compensate you for all the tenderness you have given me. But my blessings I will leave with you. I place in the midst of your clan, the Bear, a majestic pine tree, which is ever green, and as the top reaches above all other trees, so will your clan be. Wherever the nation will be driven to, your clan will multiply above all others, and be the ruler of the nation. This is all I have to deliver unto you. I now commend myself to that Great Spirit that has made us all, who ruleth above."
Thus ended the last messenger of Tarenyawagon, who is now basking in the pleasures of that hunting ground in the world above.
TUSCARORA.
Before the discovery, by Columbus, the Tuscaroras consisted of six towns, and they were a powerful nation, numbering over twelve hundred warriors, which, at a ratio according to the rule of estimating, would bring them at about five or six thousand souls.
The Tuscaroras had many years of enjoyment and peaceful possession of their domain, consisting of six towns on the Roanoke, Neuse, Taw and Pemlico rivers, in the State of North Carolina. And they were also confederated to six other nations, which were the Corees, Mattamuskeets, Notaways and the Bear River Indians; the names of the other two nations I have been unable to obtain. My readers will readily see why some writers have it that they consisted in twelve towns, and other writers would have it that they consisted in six towns. The real Tuscaroras consisted in six towns; but with the confederate nations, altogether, were known to be in twelve towns, and all these different nations which composed the confederacy went under the name of Tuscarora, the Tuscaroras being the most powerful of the several nations.
The tradition of the Tuscaroras admits of having captured Lawson and his party, and executed some of them to death on account of their encroachments upon their domain; but concerning the massacre of Oct. 2d, 1711, the Tuscaroras emphatically deny having taken any part in the affair whatever, officially. The project was presented to them and in the council of the sachems, chiefs and warriors, they emphatically declined taking any part in such a movement, but said if the colonists made encroachments and trespass on their domain, it is no more than right and just that we defend our rights, and even cautioned their young men that they should not take any part whatever in the action; but, nevertheless, there were a few of the rash and reckless warriors that took part in the disorder.
The Corees, Mattamuskeets, and Bear River Indians seemed to be the instigators of the project: but there were several other nations that took part in the massacre. These three nations being considered Tuscaroras, on account of the confederacy, and the capture of Lawson and his party a little previous to this time by the Tuscaroras, led the colonists to conclude that it was the Tuscaroras who caused the disaster, and to them was directed the feud of the colonists.