Their manner of trading is for copper, beads, and such like, for which they give such commodities as they have, as skins, foule, fish, flesh, and their Country Corne. But their victualls are their chiefest riches.
Their Physicke.
Their Chirurgery. {MN-1}
Their charms to cure. {MN-2}
Every spring they make themselves sicke with drinking the juyce of a roote they call Wighsacan, and water; whereof they powre so great a quantitie, that it purgeth them in a very violent manner; so that in three or foure dayes after, they scarce recover their former health. Sometimes they are troubled with dropsies, swellings, aches, and such like diseases; {MN-1} for cure whereof they build a Stove in the forme of a Dove-house with mats, so close that a few coales therein covered with a pot, will make the patient sweat extreamely. For swellings also they use small peeces of touchwood, in the forme of cloves, which pricking on the griefe they burne close to the flesh, and from thence draw the corruption with their mouth. With this roote Wighsacan they ordinarily heale greene wounds. But to scarrifie a swelling, or make incision, their best instruments are some splinted stone. Old ulcers, or putrified hurts are seldome seene cured amongst them. {MN-2} They have many professed Phisicians, who with their charmes and Rattles, with an infernall rout of words and actions, will seeme to sucke their inward griefe from their navels, or their grieved places; but of our Chirurgians they were so conceited, that they beleeved any Plaister would heale any hurt.
But 'tis not alwayes in Phisicians skill, To heale the Patient that is sicke and ill: For sometimes sicknesse on the Patients part, Proves stronger farre then all Phisicians art.
Of their Religion.
Their God. {MN-1}
How they bury their Kings. {MN-2}
There is yet in Virginia no place discovered to be so Savage, in which they have not a Religion, Deere, and Bow, and Arrowes. All things that are able to doe them hurt beyond their prevention, they adore with their kinde of divine worship; as the fire, water, lightning, thunder, our Ordnance, peeces, horses, &c. {MN-1} But their chiefe God they worship is the Devill. Him they call [II.35.] Okee, and serve him more of feare then love. They say they have conference with him, and fashion themselves as neare to his shape as they can imagine. In their Temples they have his image evill favouredly carved, and then painted and adorned with chaines of copper, and beads, and covered with a skin, in such manner as the deformitie may well suit with such a God. {MN-2} By him is commonly the sepulcher of their Kings. Their bodies are first bowelled, then dried upon hurdles till they be very dry, and so about the most of their joynts and necke they hang bracelets, or chaines of copper, pearle, and such like, as they use to weare, their inwards they stuffe with copper beads, hatchets, and such trash. Then lappe they them very carefully in white skins, and so rowle them in mats for their winding sheets. And in the Tombe which is an arch made of mats, they lay them orderly. What remaineth of this kinde of wealth their Kings have, they set at their feet in baskets. These Temples and bodies are kept by their Priests.
Their ordinary burials.
For their ordinary burials, they dig a deepe hole in the earth with sharpe stakes, and the corpse being lapped in skins and mats with their jewels, they lay them upon stickes in the ground, and so cover them with earth. The buriall ended, the women being painted all their faces with blacke cole and oyle, doe sit twenty-foure houres in the houses mourning and lamenting by turnes, with such yelling and howling, as may expresse their great passions.
Their Temples.