Page:The History of the American Indians.djvu/191

 '*heir burial of the dead. 179

As the Hebrews carefully buried their dead, To on any accident, they gathered their bones and laid them in the tombs of their fore-fathers : Thus, all the numerous nations of Indians perform the like friendly office to every deceafed perfon of their refpective tribe ; infomuch, that thofe who

them conflantly in their holy of holies, without touching them in the leaft, only in the time of their compounded firft-fruit-offering, and annual expiation of fins ; at which feafon, their magus carries one under his arm, a-head of the people, dancing round the facred arbour; next to him their head-warrior carries another ; and thofe warriors who chufe it, carry the reft after the manner of the high-prieft ; all the others carry white canes with fwan- feathers at the top. Hearing accidentally of thefe important monuments of antiquity, and en quiring pretty much about them, I was certified of th'e truth of the report by four of the fouthern traders, at the moft eminent Indian- trading houfe of all Englifh America. One of the gentlemen informed me, that at my requeft he endeavoured to get a liberty of viewing the aforefaid tables, but it could not poffibly be obtained, only in the time of the yearly grand facrifice, for fear of polluting their holy things, at which time gentlemen of curiofity may fee them. Old Bracket -, an Indian of perhaps 100 years old, lives in that old beloved town, who gave the following defcription of them :

Old Bracket's account of the/i;* copper and two Irafs plates under the beloved cabbin ia

Tuccabatchey-fquare.

The mape of the five copper plates ; one is a foot .and half long and feven inches wide, the other four are fhorter x^/V, and narrower.

/~^\ The fliape of the two brafs plates, about a foot and a The largeil (lamped .has (^ ^ ^ ^^

He faid he was told by his forefathers that thofe plates were given to them by the man we call God ; that there had been many more of- other mapes, fome as long as he could ftretch with both his arms, and fome had writing upon them which were buried with parti cular men ; and that they had inftruftions given with them, viz. they muft only be handled by particular people, and thofe failing ; and no unclean 'woman muft be fuffered to come near them or the place where they are depofited. He faid, none but this town's people had any fuch plates given them, and that they were a different people from the Creeks. He only remembered three more, which were buried with three of his family, and he was the only man of the family now left. He faid, there were two copper plates under the king's cabbin, which had lain there from the firft fettling of the town

��This account was taken in the Tuccabatchey-fquare, zjth July, 1759,

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