Notes on the Floridian Peninsula; its Literary History, Indian Tribes and Antiquities

62

God’s Protecting Providence Man’s Surest Help and Defence, In the times of the greatest difficulty and most Imminent danger, Evidenced in the Remarkable Deliverance of divers Persons from the devouring Waves of the Sea, amongst which they suffered Shipwrack, And also from the more cruelly devouring jawes of the inhumane Cannibals of Florida. Faithfully related by one of the Persons concerned therein. Philadelphia, 1699, 1701, and a fourth edition, 1751. London, 1700. German trans. Erstaunliche Geschichte des Schiffbruches den einige Personen im Meerbusen von Florida erlitten, Frankfort, 1784, and perhaps another edition at Leipzic.

63

Thomas, History of Printing in America, vol. II. p. 25.

64

The Successes of the English in America, by the March of Colonel Moore, Governor of South Carolina, and his taking the Spanish Town of St. Augustine near the Gulph of Florida. And by our English Fleete sayling up the River Darian, and marching to the Gold Mines of Santa Cruz de Cana, near Santa Maria. London, 1702; reprinted in an account of the South Sea Trade, London, 1711. Bib. Primor. Amer.

65

See the note on his New Map of the North Parts of America, London, 1720, headed “Explanation of an Expedition in Florida Neck by Thirty Three Iamasee Indians, Accompany’d by Capt. T. Nairn.”

66

A voyage to Georgia, begun in the year 1735, by Francis Moore; London, 1741; reprinted in the Collection of the Georgia Historical Society, Vol. I.

An Impartial Account of the Expedition against St. Augustine under the command of General Oglethorpe; 8vo., London, 1742. (Rich.)

Journal of an Expedition to the Gates of St. Augustine in Florida, conducted by General Oglethorpe. By G. L. Campbell; 8vo., London, 1744. (Watts.)

67

They are in the Rev. George White’s Historical Collections of Georgia, pp. 462, sqq., and in Harris’s Memorials of Oglethorpe.

68

An extract may be found in Fairbank’s History and Antiquities of St. Augustine.

69

History of the Florida War. Ch. viii.

70

History of St. Augustine. Ch. xiv.

71

Statements made in the Introduction to a Report on General Oglethorpe’s Expedition to St. Augustine. In B. R. Carroll’s Hist. Colls. of South Carolina, Vol. II., New York, 1836. Various papers in the State Paper Office, London, mentioned in the valuable list in the first volume of the Colls. of the S. Car. Hist. Soc. (Charleston, 1857) which further illustrate this portion of Floridian history, I have, for obvious reasons, omitted to recapitulate here.

72

Ensayo Cronologico para la Historia General de la Florida, fol. Madrid, 1723.

73

Jared Sparks, Life of Ribaut, p. 155.

74

Nat. and Civil Hist. of Fla., p. 175.

75

An Account of the First Discovery and Natural History of Florida, with a Particular Detail of the several Expeditions made on that Coast. Collected from the best Authorities by William Roberts. Together with a Geographical Description of that Country, by Thomas Jefferys. 4to, London, 1763, pp. 102.

76

A description of East Florida. A Journal upon a Journey from St. Augustine up the River St. Johns as far as the Lakes. 4to., London, 1766; 1769; and a third edition whose date I do not know. Numerous letters interchanged between John Bartram and Peter Collinson relative to this botanical examination of Florida, embracing some facts not found in his Journal, are preserved in the very interesting and valuable Memorials of John Bartram and Humphrey Marshall, by Dr. Wm. Darlington, p. 268, sqq. (8vo. Phila., 1849.)

77

Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, and the Cherokee Country, Phila., 1791; 1794. London, 1792. Dublin, 1793. French trans. by P. V. Benoist, Voyage dans les Parties Sud de l’Amerique, Septentrionale, Paris, 1801; 1807.

78

A Concise Natural History of East and West Florida. New York printed: sold by R. Aitken, Bookseller, opposite the London Coffee-House, Front Street, 1776.

79

The case of Mr. John Gordon with respect to the Title to certain Lands in East Florida, &c. With an Appendix and Plan. 4to, pp. 76, London, 1772. (Rich.)

80

Fairbanks, Hist. and Antiqs. of St. Augustine, p. 164, seq.

81

He did not meet with that success which attended a similar experiment in Canada, so amusingly described by Baron de La Hontan. For some particulars of interest consult Bartram, Travels, p. 94, seq., Vignoles, Obs. on the Floridas, p. 73.

82

Sketches, Historical and Descriptive, of Louisiana, vol. I, 8vo., Ch. II. Philadelphia, 1812.

83

Notice sur le Colonie Greque établie à New Smyrna (Floride) dans l’année, 1768. Societe de Geographie, T. VII., p. 31. (Koner.)

84

G. R. Fairbanks, Hist. and Antiqs. of St. Augustine, Ch. XVIII. See also for other particulars, Bartram, Travels, p. 144, and note, Vignoles, Obs. on the Floridas, p. 72, J. D. Schöpf, Reise– nach, Ost-Florida, B. II., s. 363, 367, seq., who knew Turnbull personally and defends him.

85

Reise durch einige der mitlern und südlichen Vereinigten Nordamerikanischen Staaten nach Ost-Florida und der Bahama-Inseln. 2 Th., 8vo., Erlangen, 1788.

86

The Journal of an Expedition during the years 1796-1800, for determining the Boundaries between the United States and the Possessions of his Catholic Majesty in America, 4to., Philadelphia, 1814.

87

A Description of East and West Florida and the Bahama Islands, 1 Vol. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1813. (Bib. Univ. des Voyages.)

88

Geographical and Historical Dictionary of America and the West Indies; translated, with valuable additions, by G. R. Thompson, 5 vols., 4to, London, 1812.

89

An account of this tribe by Major C. Swan, who visited them in 1791, has been published by Schoolcraft in the fifth volume of the Hist. and Statistics of the Indian Tribes.

90

Giddings, Exiles of Florida, p. 39, note.

91

Narrative of a Voyage to the Spanish Main by the ship Two Friends, the Occupation of Amelia Island by McGregor, Sketches of the Province of East Florida, and Anecdotes of the Manners of the Seminole Indians, 8vo., London, 1819.

Memoir of Gregor McGregor, comprising – a Narrative of the Expedition to Amelia Island. By M. Rafter. 8vo., Stockdale, 1820. (Rich.)

92

Reliquiæ Baldwinianæ; Selections from the Correspondence of the late Wm. Baldwin, M. D., compiled by Wm. Darlington, M. D. 12mo. Phila., 1843.

93

Notices of East Florida, and the Sea Coast of the State of Georgia; in a series of Letters to a Friend in Pennsylvania. With an Appendix, containing a Register of the Weather, and a Calendarium Floræ. The friend here referred to was Dr. Wm. Darlington. The materials for the Calendarium are preserved in the letters to Dr. Muhlenberg.

94

J. L. Rattenbury. Remarks on the Cession of Florida to the United States of America, and on the necessity of acquiring the Island of Cuba by Great Britain. Second edition, with considerable additions, printed exclusively in the Pamphleteer. London, 1819.

Memoir upon the Negotiations between Spain and the United States, which led to the Treaty of 1819; with a Statistical Notice of Florida, 8vo., Washington, 1821.

95

A Memoir of the Geography, and Natural and Civil History of East Florida, 8vo., Philadelphia, 1821.

96

Sketches of the History and Topography of Florida, 8vo., New York, 1821.

97

Compare the North Am. Review, Vol. XIII., p. 98, with the same journal, Vol. XXVI., p. 482. (Rich.)

98

Notices of East Florida, with an Account of the Seminole Nation of Indians. By a recent Traveller in the Province. Printed for the Author. 8vo. Charleston, 1822. pp. 105.

99

Observations on the Floridas. 8vo. New York, 1823. pp. 197.

100

Answers of David B. McComb, Esq., with an accompanying Letter of General Lafayette. 8vo. Tallahassie, 1827. See the North Am. Review, Vol. XXVI., p. 478.

101

Oration delivered by Colonel James Gadsden to the Florida Institute of Agriculture, Antiquities and Science, at its first Public Anniversary, Thursday, Jan. 4th, 1827. See the North Am. Review, Vol. XXV., p. 219.

102

Message of the President in relation to the Survey of a Route for a Canal between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean; with the Report of the Board of Internal Improvement on the same, with a general map annexed, February 28, 1829. A flowery article of ten pages may be found on this in the Southern Review, Vol. VI., p. 410.

103

Titles and Legal Opinions on Lands in East Florida belonging to Richard S. Hackley, 8vo., Fayetteville, (N. Car.,) 1826, pp. 71. See the North American Review, Vol. XXIII., p. 432. Hackley’s grant is laid down on Williams’ Map.

104

A View of West Florida, embracing its Topography, Geography, &c., with an Appendix treating of its Antiquities, Land Titles, and Canals, and containing a Chart of the Coast, a Plan of Pensacola, and the Entrance of the Harbor. 8vo. Phila., 1827, pp. 178.

105

The Territory of Florida; or Sketches of the Topography, Civil and Natural History of the Country, the Climate and the Indian Tribes, from the First Discovery to the Present Time. 8vo. New York, 1837.

106

The War in Florida; being an Exposition of its Causes and an accurate History of the Campaigns of Generals Gaines, Clinch and Scott. By a late Staff Officer. 8vo. Baltimore, 1836, pp. 184.

107

History of the Florida Campaigns. 12mo. Charleston, 1837.

108

In the Quarterly Anti-Slavery Magazine. (Giddings, Exiles of Florida, p. 99, note.)

109

A Narrative of the Early Days and Remembrances of Oceola Nikkanoche, Prince of Econchatti, a young Seminole Indian. Written by his Guardian. 8vo. London, 1841, pp. 228.

110

The Origin, Progress, and Conclusion of the Florida War. 8vo. New York, 1848.

111

The Exiles of Florida; or, the Crimes Committed by our Government against the Maroons, who fled from South Carolina and other Slave States, seeking Protection under Spanish Laws. 8vo. Columbus, (Ohio,) 1858.

112

Memoir to accompany a Military Map of Florida South of Tampa Bay, compiled by Lieutenant J. C. Ives, Topographical Engineer. War Department, April, 1856. 8vo. New York, 1856, pp. 42.

113

A Winter in Florida and the West Indies. 12mo. New York, 1839.

114

Letters from the United States, Canada and Cuba. New York, 1856.

115

Sketches of St. Augustine, with a View of its History and Advantages as a Resort for Invalids. By R. K. Sewall. 8vo. New York, 1848, pp. 69.

116

The History and Antiquities of the City of St. Augustine, Florida, comprising some of the most Interesting Portions of the Early History of Florida. 8vo. New York, 1858.

117

Memoire sur la Floride du Milieu, Comptes-Rendus, T. XIV., p. 518; T. XV., p. 1045.

118

Comptes Rendus, XV., p. 1047.

119

Repertorium ueber die – auf dem Gebiete der Geschichte erscheinenen Aufsätze, u. s. w. Berlin, 1852.

120

Bacalaos, the Spanish word for codfish.

121

See A. v. Humboldt’s Introduction to Dr. T. W. Ghillany’s Geschichte des Seefahrers Ritter Martin Behaim, s. 2-5, in which work these two maps are given.

122

Many of the names on this map are also on the land called Terra de Cuba, north-west of the island Isabella, Cuba proper, on the globe of Johann Schoner, Nuremburg, 1520. A copy of a portion of the globe is given by Ghillany in the work just mentioned. For an inspection of the original maps of Ptolemy of 1508 and 1513, I am indebted to the kindness of Peter Force, of Washington.

123

Otros conocieron ser tierra firme; y de este parecer fue siempre Anton de Alaminos, Piloto, que fue con Juan Ponce. Barcia, Introduccion al Ensayo Chronologico.

124

Herrera, Dec. I., Lib. I., cap. iii., p. 91.

125

For a description of this and other maps of America during the sixteenth century, see Dr. Ghillany, ubi suprà, p. 58, Anmerk. 17.

126

See G. R. Fairbanks, History and Antiquities of St. Augustine, pp. 113, 130, for descriptions of the two latter. A “Geog. Description of Florida” is said to have appeared at London, in 1665. Possibly it is the account of Captain Davis’ attack upon St. Augustine.

127

Descriptio Indiæ Occidentalis, Lib. IV., cap. xiii. (Antwerpt, 1633.)

128

Southern Review, Vol. VI., p. 410, seq.

129

Report of F. L. Dancy, State Engineer and Geologist, in the Message of the Governor of Florida, with Accompanying Documents, for 1855, App., p. 9.

130

A Description of the Province of Carolina, p. 2, London, 1727.

131

Trans. Hist. and Lit. Com. of the Am. Phil. Soc., Vol. I., p. 113.

132

Hist. of the American Indians, p. 358.

133

Gilii’ Saggio di Storia Americana, Tomo III., p. 375.

134

Rex qui in hisce Montibus habitabat, Ao. 1562, dicabatur Apalatcy; ideoque ipsi montes eodem nomine vocantur, is written on the map of the country in Dapper’s Neue und Unbekaute Welt (Amsterdam, 1673,) probably on the authority of Ribaut.

135

The plums mentioned by these writers were probably the fruit of the Prunus Chicasaw. This was not an indigenous tree, but was cultivated by the Southern tribes. During his travels, the botanist Bartram never found it wild in the forests, “but always in old deserted Indian plantations.” (Travels, p. 38.)

136

See Appendix III.

137

Histoire Naturelle et Morale des Illes Antilles de l’Amerique, Liv. II., pp. 331-353. Rotterdam, 1658.

138

History of the Caribby Islands, London, 1666.

139

Geographia Exactissima, oder Beschreibung des 4 Theil der ganzen Welt mit Geographischen und Historischen Relationen, Franckfort am Mayn, 1679. This is a German translation of D’Abbeville’s geographical essays. I have not been able to learn when the last part, which contains Bristock’s narrative, was published in French.

140

America. London, 1671.

141

De Nieuwe en Onbekeende Weereld. Amsterdam, 1671.

142

Die Unbekante Neue Welt. Amsterdam, 1673.

143

The British Empire in America, Vol. I. London, 1708.

144

Geschichte von Amerika, B. H. Halle, 1753. The articles in these volumes were selected with much judgment, and translated by J. F. Geyfarts and J. F. Schrœter, Baumgarten merely writing the bibliographical introductions. It contains a curious map entitled Gegend der Provinz Bemarin im Königreich Apalacha.

145

The Chikasah asserted for themselves the same origin, and even their Mexican relatives were said to visit them from time to time. (Adair, Hist. of the North Am. Indians, p. 195.)

146

Numerous references showing the prevalence of this error are adduced by D’Orbigny, L’Homme Americain, Tom. II., p. 275, et seq. Among later authors who have been misled by such authorities are Humboldt, (“Reise nach dem Tropen, B. V., s. 181,”) and the eminent naturalist F. J. F. Meyen, (Ueber die Ur-Eingebornen von Peru, s. 6, in the Nov. Act. Acad. Cæsar. Leopold. Carolin. Nat. Cur. Vol. XVII., Sup. I.)

147

Writers disagree somewhat as to the situation of this fountain. Hackluyt (Vol. V., p. 251) and Gomara (Hist. de las Indias Occidentales, Cap. XLV., pp. 31, 35) locate it on the island Boiuca or Agnaneo, 125 leagues north of Hispaniola. Some placed it on the island Bimini,—which, says Oviedo, is 40 leagues west of Bahama (Pt. I., lib. xix., cap. xv., quoted in Navarrete,)—a name sometimes applied to Florida itself, as on the Chart of Cristobal de Topia given in the third volume of Navarrete. Herrera, La Vega, Fontanedo, Barcia, Navarrete and most others agree in referring it to Florida. Fontanedo confuses it with the river Jordan and the Espiritu Santo or Mississippi. Gomara (ubi suprà, p. 31) gives a unique interpretation to this myth and one quite in accordance with the Spanish character, namely, that it arose from the rare beauty of the women of that locality, which was so superlative that old men, gazing upon it, would feel themselves restored to the vigor of youth. In this he is followed by Ogilby. (America, p. 344.)

148

See Appendix I. The later Indians of Florida seem to have preserved certain relics of a superstitious veneration of the aqueous element. Their priests had a certain holy water, sanctified by blowing upon it and incantation, thought to possess healing virtues (Nar. of Oceola Nikkanoche, p. 141;) Coacooche said that when the spirit of his twin-sister came to him from the land of souls, she offered him a cup of pure water, “which she said came from the spring of the Great Spirit, and if I should drink of it, I should return and live with her for ever.” (Sprague, Hist. Florida War, p. 328.)

149

Parallel myths are found in various other nations. Sir John Maundeville speaks of the odoriferous fountain of youth near the river Indus, and Ellis mentions “the Hawaiian account of the voyage of Kamapiikai to the land where the inhabitants enjoy perpetual health, where the wai ora (life-giving fountain) removed every internal malady and external deformity or decrepitude from those who were plunged beneath its salutary waters.” (Polynesian Researches, Vol I., p. 103.)

150

Fontanedo, Memoire, pp. 17, 18, 19, 32, 39. Gomara, Hist. de las Indias, cap. XLI., p. 31.

151

Intro. to the Ensay. Cron.; Fontanedo makes the same statement.

152

Despues de establecido los Españoles en las Islas de Santo Domingo, Cuba, y Puerto Rico, averiguaron que los naturales conservaban algunas ideas vagas de tierras situadas à la parte septentrional, donde entre otras cosas maravillosas referian la existencia de cierta fuente y rio, cuyas aguas remozaban à los viejos que en ella se bañaban; preocupacion tan añeja y arraigada en los Indios, que aun antes de la llegada de los españoles los habia conducido à establecer allì una colonia. Viages y Descubrimientos, Tomo III., p. 50.

153

L’Art de Verifier les Dates, Chronologie Historique de l’Amerique, Tome VIII., p. 185.

154

Herrera, Dec. I., Lib. IX., cap. XI., p. 249.

155

Barcia, Ensay. Cron., Año 1698, p. 317, Careri, Voyage round the World, in Churchill’s Coll. Vol. IV., p. 537.

156

William Bartram, Travels, p. 227.

157

See Labat, Voyage aux Isles de l’Amerique, Tome I., p. 136, and Hughes, Nat. Hist. of Barbadoes, p. 5.

158

Jucaias a conjecturis junctas fuisse quondam reliquis magnis insulis nostri arbitrantur, et ita fuisee a suis majoribus creditum incolæ fatentur. Sed vi tempestate paulatim absorpta tellure alterne secessisse, pelago interjecto uti de messenensi freto est autorum opinio Siciliam ab Italia dirimente, quod una esset quondam contigua. De Novo Orbe, Dec. VII., cap. II., p. 468, Editio Hackluyti, Parisiis, 1587.

159

On this topic consult Baumgarten, Geschichte von Amerika, B. II., s. 583; Jefferys, Hist. of the French Dominion in America, Pt. II., p. 181; Adelung, Allgemeine Sprachenkunde, Th. II., Ab. II., s. 681; Barton, New Views of the Tribes of America, p. lxxi.; Hervas, Catalogo de las Lenguas conocidas, Tomo I., p. 387.

160

See Appendix II.

161

Hist. of the North Am. Indians, p. 267.

162

Trans. Am. Antiq. Soc. Vol. II., p. 103 seq. Bossu found the tradition of De Soto’s invasion rife among the Alibamons (Creeks) of his day. (Nouv. Voyages aux Indes Occident. I’t. II., pp. 34, 35. Paris, 1768.)

163

Memoires Historiques sur la Louisiane, Tome II., p. 301.

164

The Cherokees plastered their houses both roofs and walls inside and out with clay and dried grass, and to compensate for the lowness of the walls excavated the floor as much as three or four feet. From this it is probable they were the “Indi delle Vacche” of Cabeza de Vaca “tra queste case ve ne havea alcune che erano di terra, e tutte l’altre sono di stuore.” (Di Alvaro Nunnes Relatione in Ramusio, Viaggi, Tom. III., fol. 327, B.) A similar construction was noticed by Biedma in Acapachiqui where the houses “etaient creusées sous terre et rassemblaient à des cavernes,” (Relation, pp. 60, 61,) by the Portuguese Gentlemen in Capachiqui, (Hackluyt, Vol. V., p. 498.) and by La Vega among the Cofachiqui, (Conq. de la Florida, Lib. III., cap. XV., p. 131.) Hence the Cherokees are identical with the latter and not with the Achalaques, as Schoolcraft erroneously advances. (Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes, p. 595.) I suppose it was from this peculiar style of building that the Iroquois called them Owaudah, a people who live in caves. (Schoolcraft, Notes on the Iroquois, p. 163.)

165

Adair, Hist. of the N. Am. Inds., pp. 413, 420, 421; Wm. Bartram, Travels, pp. 367, 388; Le Page Dupratz, Hist. of Louisiana, Vol. II., pp. 351-2.

166

Hist. N. Am. Inds., pp. 422-3.

167

François Coreal, Voyages, Tome I., p. 31; Catesby, Account of Florida and the Bahama Islands, p. viii.

168

Hist. N. Am. Inds., p. 116.

169

Nat. Hist. of E. and W. Florida, pp. 71, 83.

170

Mems. Hist. sur la Louisiane, Tome II., p. 301.

171

George White, Hist. Colls. of Georgia, p. 423. It has also been described to me by a gentleman resident in the vicinity.

172

See the Christian Advocate and Journal for 1832, and the almost unintelligible abstract of the article in Josiah Priest’s American Antiquities, pp. 169, 170, (third edition, Albany, 1833.) Though the account is undoubtedly exaggerated, it would merit further investigation.

173

See Appendix II.

174

I give these according to the orthography of Baumgarten, who may differ slightly from other writers.

175

Oratio Dominica Polyglotta, Amstelædami, 1715. He does not state where he obtained them.

176

Hewitt, History of South Carolina, Vol. I. p 156.

177

El Cacique principal de Apalache, Superior de muchos Caciques, Barcia, Ensay. Cron., p. 323.

178

Roberts, Hist. of Florida, p. 14.

179

Schoolcraft’s Ind. Tribes, Vol. V. p. 259.

180

Schermerhorn, Report on the Western Indians in Mass. Hist. Colls. Vol. II. (2 ser.,) p. 26; Alcedo, Hist. and Geog. Dict. of America, Vol. I., p. 82.