1 I
T II E
North-Carolwa Chronicle ; or, Fayetteyille Gazette
No. 2 of Vol. II.
MONDAY, F E B R U A P. T
J4
HISTORT.
CARVER'S TRAVELS
(Continued.)
IAM happy to-6nd,-fince I formed'
zlte foregoing coacluiion::, that they
correfpcnd with the fcntiments of that
ereat and learned hUorian, doctor Ro-
b;rtfon ;i and though; with him. I ac
knowledge thai the i.weftigation, from-
i:s nature is Co obfeure and intricate,
tlutthV conjectures. I have made can on
ly biconfidered as conjectures, and not
ir.du'patableconclufions,yet they carry
with 'hem a creater eeree of DrobabU
liry thn:the- fuppofitions of thole who
aSert . that this continent wai peoDled-
from another quarter.-
Oneof the doctor's quotatiois frorrt;
the journals of Behring and Tfchirikow
vrho failed from Kamfchatka about the-
year 174.1 in queft of the new world, ap
pears to carry great weight with it, and-
to attord our conclufions firm fupport.
courfe rdwtrds the eaft, difcovered lanpV
which to them appeared to oe pare 01 uic
American continent ; and, according to
their obfervations, it feems to be fituated
within a few degrees of the north-weft
coallol California. They had there foma
intei courfe with; the inhabitants, who
feemed to them to refcmble the North
Americans ; as they prefented to the
Ruffians the'calumet or pipe of peace,
which is a fymbol of friendfhip univerfal
amtng the people of North-America, and
anufajre of arbitrary inftitution peculiar
to rh'.m."
Onelof this incomparable writer's ow
arguments in fupport of his hyporhefis is
alfo urged with great judg-nent, and ap
pears to be nearly
-We may lay it down as a certain prin
ciple in this enquiry, that America was
not peopled by any natbn of the ancient
continent, which had made confiderable
progrefs in civilization. The inhabitants
cf the new world were in a ftatc offocic-
1791.
jTotal No-
ty fo extremely rude, as to be unacquaint
ed with thole arts which are the firtl ei
fays of human ingenuity in its . advance
towards improvement- Ev.m the mod
cultivated nations of America, wenr
Grangers to. many of thofe fimple inven
tions, which were almoft coeval with fo
ciety in other parts of the world, and were
known in the earlieft periods of civil life.
From this it is manifett that the tribes
which originally migrated to America,
came from nations which mud have been
nolefs barbarous than their polterity, at
the time they Were firtt difcovercd by
the Europeans If ever' the ufe of iron
had been known to the favages of Ame
rica, or to their progenitors, if ever they'
had employed a plough, a loom, or a '
forge, the utility of thefe inventions
would have preferved them, an'd it is im
poflible that they (hould have been 'aban
joned or forgotten."
CHAPTER II.
Of their perftnt drefsy Wei
.1 . t? 1 1 ru : mn. iereral or that
4 nation, who had travelled into the interi---,
or narts of North-America, either to
trade with the Indians, or to endeavour
to make converts of them, have pubhin
ed accounts of their cuftoms, manners,.
&c.
The principal of thefe are Father Lour
is Hennipin, Mpnf. Charlevoix, and the
Baion Le Hontan. The firft, many
years ago, publifhed fome very judicious
remarks, which he was the better enabled
to do by the affiftance he received trom
,he maps and diaries of the unfortunate:
Mi-nf. Dc La Salle, who was aiTaGmated
;hilfthe vas on his travel?, bj fome ot
his own party. That gentleman', jour
nalrfallinc into Father Henmpm V hands,
vras enf bled by them to pubhfl. many
interelting particulars relative to the In
dians. But in fome refpefl. he fell very
ftortcflhat knowledge uhich .t was m
bjg power to have attained lrom his long
refidence among them. Nor was he al "
ways (as has already been oferved) ex
a5t in his calculations, or juft in : the in-
rlligence h has given us.
The accounts puiliflied by the other
tjwo, particularly thofe of Charlevoix,
are very erroneous ia the geographical
parts, and many of the ftories told by the
Baron are mere delultons.
Some of the jefuits,.-who heretofore
travelled into thefe parts, have alfo writ
ten on this fubje5t ; j but as few, if any, of
tieir works have been tranflated into the
lnghfh language, the generality of read
ers are not to be benefited by them"; and,
indeed, had this been done, they would
have reaped but few advantages from
tiem, as they have chiefly confined their
obfervatioMS to' the Religious principles of
t le favages,,and the'fteps taken for their
cDnverfion -; I 1
Since the conqueft of Canada, fome of
our own countrymen, who have lived,
among the Indiani, and learned their
language, have pabjifhed their obferrati
obs;, however as their a veh. Jia,yje
-JfJc ihit 'horder on our fettle-
lllC HdUUi ! - ;. 1
clients, a knowlcdgcj of the genuine and
Jncontaminated culloms and manners of
tlie Indianscould not have been acquired
ty them. : , ! , ' .
The ftuthern tribes, and thole that
Have held a conftant intercourfe:with the
French or Englilh, pannot have ; preferv
ed their manners or their cuftoms m their
oritinal purity. They couia nor avuiu
1. --..-
acquiring the vices
with the language of
?hofe they converfed with ; and the fre-
quenr intoxicatictis tncy wpencmeu
ihrough the banejful juices introduced
umong them by the Europeans, have
completed a. totalalteration m their cha
racters i
In fuch as thefe, a confufed medley ot
principles or ufagep are only to be ob
served ; their real and unpomtea cuuunib
ould be feen amofig thole nations aione
hat have held but little communications
iththe provinces. Iheie I iound fn
ie north-weft parts, and therefore fla