eat distinction--and the young women are so far from suffering in
their reputation for this civility, that they are envied for it by all
the other girls, as having had the greatest honor done them in the
world.

After this manner, perhaps, many of the heroes were begotten in old
time, who boasted themselves to be the sons of some wayfaring god.

CHAPTER VI.

OF THE LEARNING AND LANGUAGES OF THE INDIANS.

Sec. 22. These Indians have no sort of letters to express their words by;
but when they would communicate anything that cannot be delivered by
message, they do it by a sort of hieroglyphic, or representation of
birds, beasts, or other things, shewing their different meaning by the
various forms described, and by the different position of the figures.

Baron Lahontan, in his second volume of New Voyages, has two
extraordinary chapters concerning the heraldry and hieroglyphics of the
Indians; but I, having had no opportunity of conversing with our Indians
since that book came to my hands, nor having ever suspected them to be
acquainted with heraldry, I am not able to say anything upon that
subject.

The Indians, when they travel ever so small a way, being much embroiled
in war one with another, use several marks painted upon their shoulders
to distinguish themselves by, and show what nation they are of. The
usual mark is one, two, or three arrows. One nation paints these arrows
upwards, another downwards, a third sideways--and others again use other
distinctions, as in tab. 2, from whence it comes to pass, that the
Virginia assembly took up the humor of making badges of silver, copper
or brass, of which they gave a sufficient number to each nation in amity
with the English, and then made a law, that the Indians should not
travel among the English plantations without one of these badges in
their company, to show that they are friends. And this is all the
heraldry that I know is practiced among the Indians.

Sec. 23. Their languages differ very much, as anciently in the several
parts of Britain; so that nations at a moderate distance do not
understand one another. However, they have a sort of general language,
like what Lahontan calls the Algonkine, which is understood by the chief
men of many nations, as Latin is in most parts of Europe, and Lingua
Franca quite through the Levant.

The general language here used is said to be that of the Occaneeches,
though they have been but a small nation ever since thos