Part 2 (1/2)

10. Such a state of society necessitated the control of one leader; so the Indian tribes were governed by chiefs, who led them to battle and in pursuit of game. Some of these chiefs, like Powhatan and King Philip, were men of marked ability, and extended their power over other tribes. When a chief died his son succeeded to his office only when fitted for the place; if weak or cowardly, some other brave was chosen. In this way the honor was not strictly hereditary.

11. The Indians had no knowledge as to the working of iron. They had only bows, arrows, stone tomahawks and such weapons for war.

They lived in small communities, embracing from ten to thirty cabins, for protection, but had no large towns, because of the impossibility of feeding great numbers at one point. They held it a part of their religion to seek vengeance for all injuries, real and imaginary, and their general traits of character were as savage as their habits. In war they had no pity on captives, no reverence for helpless age, and were strangers to the sentiments of honor and justice. They were brave, yet much given to cunning and treachery. They rarely forgot benefits or forgave injuries.

12. Many relics of these savages are yet to be found in almost every county throughout the State. Broken pieces of pottery, arrowheads and tomahawks are often plowed up in the fields; and mounds of various sizes, made by the Indians, are still seen in some sections. There had long been a tradition among the Indians that, in the course of time, pale-faced strangers from beyond the seas would possess their land; and so, after ages of petty warfare among themselves, as the sixteenth century drew to its close, they were confronted by men who built s.h.i.+ps that withstood the ocean's storms, and shook the solid earth with the roar of their artillery.

QUESTIONS.

1. Who were the original inhabitants of the country now known as North Carolina?

2. Who had made settlements on the American continent a century before the English? What two great men were leaders in making those settlements?

3. Give the location of the various tribes of Indians in North Carolina.

4. Who were the Tuscaroras? What was the feeling of the Indians toward the white people?

5. In what part of North Carolina were the Tuscaroras found?

What were their habits?

6. What tribes were found in the western portion of the State?

What were their habits?

7. What kind of people were the Indians? How did they cultivate the soil?

8. Give further description of their habits.

9. Where was the home of the Meherrin Indians? The Nottoways?

What were the relations existing between these two tribes?

10. Describe the government of the Indians.

11. How did they live? What were some of their traits in war?

12. What relics of the Indians are still to be found in the State? What tradition existed among the Indians? How was that tradition beginning to be fulfilled ? Point out on the map the ancient homes of the Tuscarora Indians. The Catawbas. The Cherokees. The Corees. The Meherrins. The Chowanokes. Trace the course of the Roanoke River. The Neuse. The Meherrin. The Chowan. The Catawba. The Yadkin. The French Broad.

CHAPTER V.

SIR WALTER RALEIGH

A. D. 1570 TO 1583.

1570. The sixteenth century of the Christian era was one of the most wonderful periods in the world's history. The recent invention of the printing-press had scattered books and knowledge over Christendom, a larger liberty in religions matters had been achieved by the Reformation, and daring navigators sailed with their s.h.i.+ps into many regions never before visited by civilized men.

2. The Portuguese and Spaniards sent expeditions to many lands.

In America, thousands of men and women were living who had come from Europe, or had been born of white parents since the first settlements in the West Indies, Mexico and Peru. As Columbus had discovered the new world with Spanish s.h.i.+ps, the kings of Spain laid claim to all the continent.