WHITE'S LOST COLONY.

        The first explorer of the region originally known as Virginia, comprising the territory afterwards known as Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina (omitting for the present some explorations along the coast made by Lane), was John Lederer, a learned German, who resided in the Virginia colony during the administration of Sir William Berkeley. It appears that he made "three several marches" through the country referred to between March, 1669, and September, 1670. Copious extracts from Lederer's notes of travel are printed in Volume II of Hawks's History of North Carolina, together with lengthy explanatory notes. A map of Lederer's explorations accompanies Talbot's translation of the notes (which were written in Latin), by the aid of which Dr. Hawks endeavored to trace the explorer's wanderings in North Carolina. A facsimile of the map is printed in the history; also a facsimile of the map of Carolina drawn by Ogilby in 1671. Copies of these maps and the text relating to Lederer's notes as found in Dr. Hawks's History, Vol. II, accompany this report. (See Exhibit D.)

        Dr. Hawks found himself unable to reconcile some of Lederer's narrative with later well-known geographical and historical facts. This was probably due to inaccuracies in courses and distances traveled by the explorer, to errors in names and locations, and to still

greater inaccuracies in the orginal map. It is not my purpose to attempt to reconcile or explain these inaccuracies, but merely to call attention to some important facts which seem to have some relation to the early history of the so-called Croatan Indians.

        There is a long-standing tradition among these Indians that their ancestors were white people, a part of Gov. White's lost colony, who amalgamated with the coast Indians and afterwards removed to the interior, where they now reside; and it is my purpose to inquire into the historical data which support or contradict this tradition. It is a matter of common knowledge that the Indians are a people of "traditions," being entirely destitute of written records. Indeed, I would regard the tradition of these people that their ancestors comprised a part of the "lost colony" as of little value were it not supported by what is regarded as authentic historical data. Mr. James Mooney, in the Hand Book of Indians, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin No. 30, expresses doubt that these people originated from White's lost colony. He says:

        The theory of descent from the lost colony may be regarded as baseless, but the name itself serves as a convenient label for a people who combine in themselves the blood of the wasted native tribes, the early colonists or forest rovers, the runaway slaves or other negroes, and probably also of stray seamen of the Latin races from coasting vessels in the West Indian or Brazilian trade.

        Mr. Samuel A'Court Ashe, a most creditable historian, also seems to doubt the origin of the Croatan Indians from White's lost colony. He says in part:

        Because names borne by some of the colonists have been found among a mixed race in Robeson County, now called Croatans, an inference has been drawn that there was some connection between them. It is highly improbable that English names would have been preserved among a tribe of savages beyond the second generation, there being no communication except with other savages. If English names had existed among the Hatteras Indians in Lawson's time, he probably would have mentioned it as additional evidence corroborating his suggestion deduced from some of them having gray eyes and from their valuing themselves on their affinity to the English. It is also to be observed that nowhere among the Indians were found houses or tilled lands or other evidences of improvement on the customs and manners of the aborigines. When this mixed race was first observed by the early settlers of the upper Cape Fear, about 1735, it is said that they spoke English, cultivated land, lived in substantial houses, and otherwise practiced the arts of civilized life, being in these respects different from any Indian tribe.

        (See Exhibit CCC.)

        Except for the doubt expressed by these writers, the universal opinion of those who have written concerning the early history of the Carolinas, as far as I have been able to ascertain, supports the tradition of the Indians.

        Gov. White's notes of his voyage to Virginia (North Carolina) in search of the colony he planted on Roanoke Island in 1587 are printed at length in Hawks's History of North Carolina, extracts from which are reprinted in McMillan's pamphlet heretofore referred to. According to a secret understanding which White had with the colonists before he returned to England, if they departed from Roanoke Island before his return (and there had been talk that they might go 50 miles into the interior) they were to carve upon the trees or posts of the doors "the name of the place where they should be seated." When White and his men on August 16, 1590, landed on the north point of the island, where they had left the colony three years previously, and proceeded up the sandy bank, they saw upon a tree, in the very brow thereof, the fair roman letters

"C. R. O.," which they "presently knew to signify the place where they should find the planters seated." It was also understood "that if they should happen to be distressed in any of those places" they should carve over the letters or name a cross; but White and his men found no such sign of distress. The narrative continues:

        And having well considered of this we passed through the place where they were left in sundry houses, but we found the houses taken down and the place very strongly inclosed with a high palisade of great trees with curtains and flankers, very fortlike, and one of the chief trees or posts at the right side of the entrance had the bark taken off and 5 feet from the ground, in fair capital letters, was graven "CROATOAN," without any cross or sign of distress.

        It should be noted that the word carved upon the tree was "Croatoan" and not "Croatan" as stated by some of the historians. White's narrative continues:

        This done, we entered into the palisade, where we found many bars of iron, two pigs of lead, four iron fowlers, iron locker, shot, and such like heavy things thrown here and there, almost overgrown with grass and weeds. But although it grieved me much to see such spoil of my goods, yet on the other side I greatly joyed that I had safely found a certain token of their being at Croatoan, which is the place where Manteo was born, and the savages of the island our friends.

        Manteo, it will be remembered, was one of two friendly Indians who had been carried to England by Sir Richard Grenville and returned to Virginia with Gov. White on the occasion of his first voyage, in 1587. On August 13 of that year, Manteo, by direction of Sir Walter Raleigh, was baptized, and in reward for his services to the English he was designated "Lord of Roanoke and Dasamonguepeuk."

        Returning to Lederer's travels, it will be noted that on the map prepared in 1666--one of the earliest maps of the Carolina coast--Croatoan is represented as an island south of Cape Hatteras. This seems to accord with White's narrative, quoted above. On the map prepared by Ogilby, 1671, on the order of the lords proprietors, and on the map of "Carolina, described 1666" (facsimile by Schroeter), Croatan is marked as a part of the main land, directly west of Roanoke Island. Gov. White's narrative indicates that the colonists (or "planters," as he called them) originally removed to Croatoan, an island south of Cape Hatteras, and not to Croatan, a part of the mainland. Mr. McMillan in his pamphlet (p. 11) says:

        It is evident from the story of Gov. White, as given on a preceding page, that the colonists went southward along the coast to Croatoan Island, now a part of Carteret County, in North Carolina, and distant about 100 miles in a direct line from Albemarle Sound.

        The Tuscarora Indians was a powerful and warlike tribe, occupying the central eastern part of North Carolina. They had frequent encounters with the Cherokees and Catawbas on the west and southwest, and with the Cheraws on the south, but stood as an impassable barrier to encroachments on their territory until the destructive war of 1711-1713. The exact location of the Tuscaroras can not be determined from Lederer's notes nor from Ogilby's or Lederer's map, further than that they occupied a very advantageous position in eastern North Carolina; but as indicative of the character of the people at this time (1670), especially the principal chief, Lederer says:

        Not thinking fit to proceed farther, the 8th and 20th of June I faced about and looked homeward. To avoid Wisacky marsh I shaped my course northeast; and after

three days' travel over hilly ways, where I met with no path or road, I fell into a barren, sandy desert, where I suffered miserably for want of water, the heat of summer having drunk all the springs dry and left no sign of any but the gravelly channels in which they run; so that if now and then I had not found a standing pool, which provident nature set round with shady oaks to defend it from the ardor of the sun, my Indian companion, horse, and self had certainly perished with thirst. In this distress we traveled till the 12th of July, and then found the head of a river, which afterwards proved Eruco, in which we received not only the comfort of a necessary and seasonable refreshment, but likewise the hopes of coming into a country again where we might find game for food at least, if not discover some new nation or people. Nor did our hopes fail us, for after we had crossed the river twice we were led by it, upon the 14th of July, to the town of Katearas, a place of great Indian trade and commerce and chief seat of the haughty emperor of the Taskiroras, called Kaskusara, vulgarly called Kaskous. His grim majesty, upon my first appearance, demanded my gun and shot, which I willingly parted with, to ransom myself out of his clutches; for he was the most proud, imperious barbarian that I met with in all my marches. The people here at this time seemed prepared for some extraordinary solemnity, for the men and the women of better sort had decked themselves very fine with pieces of bright copper in their hair and ears and about their arms and necks, which upon festival occasions they use as an extraordinary bravery; by which it would seem this country is not without rich mines of copper, but I durst not stay to inform myself in it, being jealous of some sudden mischief toward me from Kaskous, his nature being bloody and provoked upon any slight occasion.

        Therefore, leaving Katearas, I traveled through the woods until the 16th, upon which I came to Kawitziokan, an Indian town upon a branch of Rorenoke River, which here I passed over, continuing my journey to Menchaerink; and on the 17th, departing from thence, I lay all night in the woods, and the next morning, betimes going by Natoway, I reached that evening Apamatuck, in Virginia, where I was not a little overjoyed to see Christian faces again.

        (For the full text of Lederer's notes and Dr. Hawks's comments, see Exhibit D.)

        John Lawson, surveyor general of North Carolina, was the next explorer who left a permanent record of his travels among the Indian tribes of the Carolinas. He commenced his journey at Charlestown, December 28, 1700, passed up the Santee and Wateree Rivers, and thence across the foothills to the headwaters of the tributaries of the Neuse and thence down these rivers to the coast. For many days he thought that he had crossed to the headwaters of the Cape Fear River, but after encountering Enoe-Will, an Indian who acted as his guide and interpreter during the latter part of his journey, discovered his mistake. He apparently passed through the country of the Santees, Waterus, Cheraws, and Catawbas, and on the return trip through the country of the Catawbas, Tuscaroras, and Corees. It is possible that he may have entered the country of the Cherokees on the Hiwassee River, though this is by no means certain. I was fortunate in obtaining an original copy of the Lawson history, printed in London in 1718, from which I have copied liberally by photostat process. As in the case of the Lederer notes, it is not my purpose to review the Lawson history in extenso, but merely to call attention to such parts as relate to the lost colony and to the Indians with whom it is supposed they amalgamated. The history is addressed to the "Lords-Proprietors of the Province of Carolina in America," and the author says in the preface:

        Having spent most of my Time, during my eight Years Abode in Carolina, in travelling; I not only survey'd the Sea-Coast and those Parts which are already inhabited by the Christians, but likewise view'd a spatious Tract of land, lying betwixt the Inhabitants and the Ledges of Mountains, from whence our noblest Rivers have their Rise, running towards the Ocean, where they water as pleasant a country as any in Europe, the Discovery of which being never yet made publick, I have, in the following Sheets, given you a faithful Account thereof, wherein I have laid down everything

with Impartiality, and Truth, which is indeed, the Duty of every Author, and preferable to a smooth Stile, accompany'd with Falsities and Hyperboles.

        It seems evident that Lawson and his party were unable to converse with the Indians of the several tribes through which they passed, except in the sign language, until they encountered Enoe-Will, one of the headmen of the Coree tribe, a small tribe originally residing on the coast near the mouth of the Neuse River, and which was probably allied with the Hatteras, Pamlico, and other coast tribes. About the point of leaving the country of the Keyauwees, most of the party abandoned Lawson, with a view of proceeding to Virginia, leaving him and one companion to pursue their journey alone through North Carolina. On page 53 Lawson says:

        This morning most of our Company having some Inclination to go straight away for Virginia, when they left this Place; I and one more took our leaves of them, resolving (with God's Leave) to see North Carolina, one of the Indians setting us in our way. The rest being indifferent which way they went, desired us, by all means, to leave a Letter for them, at the Achonechy-Town. The Indian that put us in our Path, had been a Prisoner amongst the Sinnagers; but had out-run them, although they had cut his Toes, and half his Feet away, which is a Practice common amongst them. They first raise the skin, then cut away half the Feet, and so wrap the Skin over the Stumps, and make a present Cure of the Wounds. This commonly disables them from making their Escape, they being not so good Travellers as before, and the Impression of their Half-Feet making it easy to trace them. However, this Fellow was got clear of them, but had little Heart to go far from home, and carry'd always a case of Pistols in his Girdle, besides a Cutlass, and a Fuzee.

        Notwithstanding they were "put in their path" by the Indian referred to, Lawson and his companion apparently traveled a hundred miles or more without a guide. During this time they had nothing to subsist on but parched corn, and probably passed over the neutral territory between the Catawbas and the Tuscaroras. Near the "town" of Achonechy, probably 120 miles from the country of the Keyauwees, they encountered "30 horses coming on the road with four or five men on other jades, driving them." These proved to be a small company of Englishmen from Virginia, who were going into the Carolinas to trade with the Indians. The leading man was named Massey, and he advised Lawson by all means "to strike down the country for Roanoke, and not think of Virginia because of the Sinnegars." He also persuaded them to call upon Enoe-Will as they went to Adshusheer, "for that he would conduct them safe among the English," giving him the character of a very faithful Indian. About 3 o'clock they reached the town, and within two hours Enoe-Will came into the "King's" house, where they were staying. The next morning they set out with Enoe-Will "towards Adshusheer, leaving the Virginia path and striking more to the eastward for Roanoke." Lawson describes the journey to Adshusheer, where Enoe-Will resided "as a sad stony way" which made him quite lame. Here the Indians brought them two "cocks" (chickens), which to my mind is conclusive evidence that these Indians had previously come in contact with the whites, as Indians in their native state, as a rule, are destitute of domestic animals, except the horse and dog. Lawson says of Enoe-Will:

        Our guide and landlord, Enoe-Will, was of the best and most agreeable temper that ever I met with in an Indian, being always ready to serve the English, not out of gain, but real affection.

        The following day much rain fell and they stayed at the Indian town. The next morning they set out early and traveled about 10 miles,

when they were stopped by the high water in the river. Lawson thought that they were on some tributary of the Cape Fear River, but on inquiry of Enoe-Will he learned that it was Enoe River and emptied into a place called "Enoe Bay," near his country, which he left when he was a boy; by which Lawson perceived that Will was one of the Corees and that the river they were waiting to cross was a branch of the Neuse River. This locates the Corees when Will was a boy--probably 50 or more years previously--on the coast near the mouth of the Neuse River, and for the first time the traveler learned that he was much farther north than he had supposed.

        On page 58, the author says:

        The next day, early, came two Tuskerora Indians to the other side of the river, but could not get over. They talked much to us, but we understood them not. In the afternoon, Will came with the mare and had some discourse with them. They told him the English, to whom he was going, were very wicked people; and that they threatened the Indians for hunting on their plantations.

        This incident reveals the fact that the travelers were within or near the Tuscarora country, and that already friction existed between the English and the Tuscaroras. The author continues:

        Will had a slave, a Sissipahan Indian by nation, who killed us several turkeys and other game, on which we feasted.

        Showing the existence of Indian slavery among the Corees (or Schoccores, as Lawson sometimes called them) at this time.

        A short distance after crossing the branch of the Neuse River referred to, they halted for the night. The traveler carried an illustrated Bible with him and as they lay in camp at this place Enoe-Will asked to see the book. Lawson describes what took place as follows:

        My Guide Will desiring to see the Book that I had about me, I lent it him; and as he soon found the Picture of King David, he asked me several Questions concerning the Book, and Picture, which I resolved him, and invited him to become a Christian. He made me a very sharp Reply, assuring me, That he loved the English extraordinary well, and did believe their Ways to be very good for those that had already practiced them, and had been brought up therein, But as for himself, he was too much in Years to think of a Change, esteeming it not proper for Old People to admit of such an Alteration. However, he told me, If I would take his son Jack, who was then about 14 Years of Age, and teach him to talk in that Book, and make Paper speak, which they call our Way of Writing, he would wholly resign him to my Tuition; telling me, he was of Opinion, I was very well affected to the Indians.

        This conversation between the traveler and his guide reveals several important things: First, that Enoe-Will must have been between 60 and 70 years old at this time, and that he was familiar with the fact that the English could "talk in a book" and "make paper speak." Couple this with the fact that the guide had an English name, "Will," which he probably assumed at the age of 20 or 21, and the information previously given by him that he lived on Enoe Bay when he was a boy, leads quite certainly to the conclusion that the Corees had come in contact with at least some portion of the lost colony. It must be remembered that when Will was a boy there were no English settlements on the east coast of North Carolina other than White's lost colony.

        A few days after the conversation between the traveler and his guide, quoted above, Lawson reached the plantation of his friend, Mr. Richard Smith, on "Pamptigouch River," "where being well received by the inhabitants, and pleased with the goodness of the country, we all resolved to continue."

        In the second part of his history, which the author designated "A description of North Carolina," he speaks of the early settlement of the country and of the lost colony as follows:

        The first Discovery and Settlement of this Country was by the Procurement of Sir Walter Raleigh, in Conjunction with some publick-spirited Gentlemen of that Age, under the protection of Queen Elizabeth; for which Reason it was then named Virginia, being begun on that Part called Ronoak Island, where the Ruins of a Fort are to be seen at this day, as well as some old English Coins which have been lately found; and a Brass-Gun, a Powder-Horn, and one small Quarter deck-Gun, made of Iron Staves, and hooped with the same metal; which Method of making Guns might very probably be made use of in those Days, for the Convenience of Infant-Colonies.

        A farther Confirmation of this we have from the Hatteras Indians, who either then lived on Ronoak-Island, or much frequented it. These tell us, that several of their ancestors were white People, and could talk in a Book, as we do; the Truth of which is confirmed by gray Eyes being found frequently amongst these Indians, and no others. They value themselves extremely for their Affinity to the English, and are ready to do them all friendly Offices. It is probable, that this Settlement miscarried for want of timely Supplies from England; or thro' the Treachery of the Natives, for we may reasonably suppose that the English were forced to cohabit with them, for Relief and Conversation; and that in process of Time, they conformed themselves to the Manners of their Indian Relations. And thus we see how apt Humane Nature is to degenerate.

        I cannot forbear inserting here, a pleasant Story that passes for an uncontested Truth amongst the Inhabitants of this Place; which is, that the Ship which brought the first Colonies, does often appear amongst them, under Sail, in a gallant Posture, which they call Sir Walter Raleigh's Ship; And the truth of this has been affirmed to me, by Men of the best Credit in the Country.

        A second Settlement of this Country was made about fifty Years ago, in that part we now call Albemarl County, and chiefly in Chuwon Precinct, by several substantial Planters, from Virginia, and other Plantations.

        Lawson's history is regarded as the standard authority for the period it covers; I find it extensively quoted from by all subsequent historians; and if his statements concerning the amalgamation of the lost colony with the Hatteras Indians is not true, the "mystery" of what became of White's colony can never be solved. But there are many facts and circumstances which confirm Lawson's record.

        When White returned to Roanoke Island in 1590, in accordance with the secret understanding between himself and the colonists, he found the word "Croatoan" graven upon a tree comprising one of the door posts of the palisade; and above it he found no cross or sign of distress. This, to my mind, indicated that the colonists were not captured in warfare by the Indians, but went with them voluntarily to find a better location than Roanoke Island. If they went with the Hatteras Indians voluntarily, amalgamation with them was inevitable.

        I understand that when the act of the North Carolina Legislature designating them Croatans, was publicly read to the Indians, one aged Indian, a very intelligent man, remarked that he had always heard his ancestors say that they were Hatteras Indians. Manteo was friendly to the English, and would undoubtedly do everything in his power to protect them. On page 234 of his history Lawson describes the Hatteras Indians as consisting of one town residing on the Sand Banks, with 16 fighting men. The Hatteras Indians are described in the Hand Book of American Indians, Bureau of Ethnology (p. 537) as follows:

        HATTERAS.--An Algonquian tribe living in 1701 on the sand banks about C. Hatteras, N. C., E. of Pamlico Sound, and frequenting Roanoke Id. Their single village, Sandbanks, had then only about 80 inhabitants. They showed traces of white blood and claimed that some of their ancestors were white. They may have been identical

with the Croatan Indians (q. v.), with whom Raleigh's colonists at Roanoke Id. are supposed to have taken refuge.

        The presence of gray eyes and fair skin among these people in Lawson's time can not be explained on any other hypothesis than that of amalgamation with the white race; and when Lawson wrote (1709) there was a tradition among the Hatteras Indians that their ancestors were white people "and could talk in a book"; and that "they valued themselves extremely for their affinity to the English and were ready to do them all friendly offices." I have already referred to the fact that Enoe-Will, a Coree Indian, who had been raised on the coast, and who was probably nearly 70 years of age when he acted as Lawson's guide, knew that the English could "talk in a book" and as he further expressed it, "could make paper talk," indicating that he was familiar with the customs of the English. The Corees are described in the "Hand Book," Bulletin No. 30 (p. 349), as follows:

        COREE.--A tribe, possibly Algonquian, formerly occupying the peninsula S. of Neuse R., in Carteret and Craven Cos., N. C. They had been greatly reduced in a war with another tribe before 1696, and were described by Archdale as having been a bloody and barbarous people. Lawson refers to them as Coranine Indians, but in another place calls them Cannamox and gives them two villages in 1701--Coranine and Raruta--with about 125 souls. They engaged in the Tuscarora war of 1711, and in 1715 the remnants of the Coree and Machapunga were assigned a tract on Mattamuskeet Lake, Hyde Co., N. C., where they lived in one viallge probably until they became extinct.

        There is an abiding tradition among these people at the present time that their ancestors were the lost colony, amalgamated with some tribe of Indians. This tradition is supported by their looks, their complexion, color of skin, hair and eyes, by their manners, customs and habits, and by the fact that while they are, in part, of undoubted Indian origin, they have no Indian names and no Indian language--not even a single word--and know nothing of Indian customs and habits. Speaking of the language of this people, Mr. McMillan says:

        The language spoken is almost pure Anglo Saxon, a fact which we think affords corroborative evidence of their relation to the lost colony of White. Mon (Saxon) is used for man, father is pronounced "fayther," and a tradition is usually begun as follows:

        "Mon, my fayther told me that his fayther told him," etc. "Mension," is used for measurement, "aks" for ask, "hit" for it, "hosen" for hose, "lovend" for loving, "housen" for houses. They seem to have but two sounds for the letter "a," one like short "o." Many of the words in common use among them have long been obsolete in English-speaking countries.

        Col. Fred A. Olds, a newspaper correspondent of Raleigh, says of their language:

        The language spoken by the Croatans is a very pure but quaint old Anglo-Saxon, and there are in daily use some 75 words which have come down from the great days of Raleigh and his mighty mistress, Queen Elizabeth. These old Saxon words arrest attention instantly. For man they say "mon," pronounce father "feyther," use "mension" for measurement, "ax" for ask, "hosen" for hose, "lovened" for loving, "wit" for knowledge, "housen" for houses; and many other words in daily use by them have for years been entirely obsolete in English-speaking countries.

        Just when the colonists and the Indians with whom they amalgamated removed to the interior is not certainly known, but it is believed to have been as early as 1650. At the coming of the first white settlers to what is now known as Robeson County, there was found located on the banks of the Lumber River a large tribe of Indians,

speaking the English language, tilling the soil, owning slaves, and practicing many of the arts of civilized life. McMillan says:

        They occupied the country as far west as the Pee Dee, but their principal seat was on the Lumber, extending along that river for 20 miles. They held their lands in common and land titles only became known on the approach of white men. The first grant of land to any of this tribe, of which there is written evidence in existence, was made by King George II in 1732, to Henry Berry and James Lowrie, two leading men of the tribe, and was located on the Lowrie Swamp, east of Lumber River in present country of Robeson in North Carolina. A subsequent grant was made to James Lowrie in 1738. According to tradition there were deeds of land of older date, described as "White" deeds and "Smith" deeds, but no trace of their existence can be found at this date.

        And what is of greater significance, a very large number of the names appearing among the lost colony are to be found among the Croatan Indians, a fact inexplicable upon any other hypothesis than that the lost colony amalgamated with the Indians.

        These names, common to both, are printed in italics in the McMillan booklet. (Exhibit C.) The present investigation discloses that the Indian names, Indian language, and Indian customs and habits perished, while the English names, English language, and English customs and habits prevailed. Mr. McMillan adds:

        The writer has been much interested in investigating the tradition prevalent among the Croatans and expresses his firm conviction that they are descended from the friendly tribe found on our east coast in 1587, and also descended from the lost colonists of Roanoke, who amalgamated with this tribe.

        From the foregoing I have no hesitancy in expressing the belief that the Indians originally settled in Robeson and adjoining counties in North Carolina were an amalgamation of the Hatteras Indians with Gov. White's lost colony; the present Indians are their descendants with a further amalgamation with the early Scotch and Scotch-Irish settlers, such amalgamation continuing down to the present time, together with a small degree of amalgamation with other races.

        I do not find that the Hatteras Indians or the so-called Croatan Indians ever had any treaty relations with the United States, or that they have any tribal rights with any tribe or band of Indians; neither do I find that they have received any lands or that there are any moneys due them.