Page:The History of the American Indians.djvu/248

 236 Ah Account of the Cheerake Nation.

the burning poifon, and the ftrong antidote ; but the poifon is foon repelled through the fame channels it entered, and the patient, is cured.

The Cheerake mountains look very formidable to a ftranger, when he is among their valleys, incireled with their prodigious, proud, contending tops-, they appear as a great mafs of black and blue clouds, interfperfed with, fome rays of light. But they produce, or contain every thing for health,, and wealth, and if cultivated by the rules of art, would furnifh perhaps,, as valuable medicines as the eaftern countries, and as great quantities o gold and filver, as Peru and Mexico, in proportion to their fituation with the aequator. On the tops of feveral of thofe mountains, I have obferved tufts of grafs deeply tinctured by the mineral exhalations from, the earth, and on the fides, they glittered from the fame caufe. If fkilfui alchymifts made experiments on thefe. mountains,, they could foon fatisfy themfelves, as to the value of their contents, and.probabJy would find their, account, ia it..

Within twenty miles of the lats Fort-Loudon, there is great plenty of whet-flones for razors, of red, white, and black colours. The filver mines, are fo rich, that by digging about ten yards deep, fome defperate vagrants found at fundry times, fo much rich ore, as to enable them to counterfeit dollars, to a great amount ; a horfe load of which was detected in paffing for the purchafe of negroes, at Augufta, which ftands on the fouth-fide of the meandering beautiful Savanah river, halfway from the Cheerake coun try, to Savanah, the capital of Georgia. The load-ilone is likewife found, there, but they have no fkill in fearching for it, only on the furface ;., a.greatdeal of the magnetic power is loft, as being expofed to the various changes of the weather, and frequent firing of the woods. I was told by a trader, who lives in the upper parts of the Cheerake country, which is furrounded on every fide, by prodigious piles of mountains called. Cheeowhee, that within about a. mile of the town of that name, there is a hill with a great plenty of load-ftones the truth of this any gentleman of curiofity may foon afcerrain, as it. lies on the northern path that leads from. South-Carolina, to the remains of Fort-Loudon : and while he is in fearch o this, he may at the fame time make a great acqueft of riches, for the load- is known. to accompany rich metals., I was once near that load-done

hill,.

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